


Paths Divergent

by Ajur



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anti-Blade Prejudice (Xenoblade Chronicles 2), Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, LLF Comment Project, Not Torna: The Golden Country-compliant, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-03-13 06:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 37,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13564689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ajur/pseuds/Ajur
Summary: One event can change everything. A single point of divergence can cause ripples and twists that impact the entire world. A canon divergence AU with a catalyst occurring during the Aegis War that explores a different path the story could have taken.





	1. Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! This is a fic that has been in the making for a while, ever since I made a throwaway 'what if' comment that has spiralled out of control just a little bit. It'll eventually span the entirety of the game, beginning to end—but you'll find that there are a great many differences on the way. I opted not to reveal the divergence catalyst at this point, as I find it more fun to reveal everything gradually, but it'll all come to light in due time. In the meantime, rest assured that any and all changes you might notice are very much intentional and everything will come together in the end. 
> 
> Special thanks to Cal and Lonetaku, for letting me bounce entirely too many ideas off of them and helping me edit.

Rex hadn't exactly expected to start his day by being offered half a fortune, but he wasn't about to complain. 

The client who had walked into Chairman Bana's office on his own looked a little bit out of place in the ornate room, next to Bana's curiously half naked assistants. The Goldmouth was a trading vessel. There weren't all that many people walking around in a full suit of armor here, and this one was an unusual one, almost all black with some sort of grating over the chest. Not to mention his Blade! Rex couldn't stop staring at it. It looked so _cool_ , a humanoid figure towering over everyone else in the room. What element was it? Sometimes it was obvious, but this time he couldn't tell. 

“So, you're the 'salvager of some renown' I was told about?“ The client crossed his arms over his chest, a slight smirk on his face. “You look a little young for that title. Doesn't take much to be called that, then?“ Rex wanted to protest, but the man didn't give him any time. “I need something hauled up. A ship, 450 peds down, and I need someone from Leftheria to do it. I'm told you fit that bill. Think you can do that much?“

Who did he think he was, waltzing in here and looking down on him like that? (In addition to actually looking down on him. The man was positively towering over him. When was that growth spurt Gramps kept promising him going to kick in?) This was no way to treat a hired hand. Yes, he was young, but that didn't mean he had no skills. And the Chairman himself had recommended him. That had to count for something.

Complaining wouldn't help anything, though. And with 200,000G on the line, Rex could take some insults. “No problem at all! Just leave it to me.“ He thumped his chest, the way the other salvagers always did. 450 peds was quite the way down, but he'd worked at similar depths before. Though why it needed to be a Leftherian was beyond him… 

“That so?“

Rex had only a moment's warning before the man drew his weapon and struck. Somehow he managed to scramble out of the way and put enough space between the two to pull out his scrap blade. Their weapons locked and Rex took a half step backwards. Architect, this guy was strong! He could feel his arms starting to shake already. 

“What the hell?“ He looked to Bana for help, but he didn't seem to want to get involved. Just as Rex thought he couldn't hold it anymore, the man broke contact. 

“Good reactions. And you're not as scrawny as you look, either.“ The look the man gave him was calculating. “Who trained you?“

“Gramps. It's his idea of playtime. But—“

“Very well, then, 100,000 now, 100,000 when we come back. Don't be late. I don't want to waste more time than necessary.“ The client turned around.

Huh?! 

What was this, some kind of test? What was attacking him supposed to prove about hauling up a ship? Was that even legal?

“Wait! Um...“ What to say? That was no way to treat anyone, especially not someone whose help you needed. On the other hand, he hadn't actually gotten hurt and the other probably hadn't meant to hurt him either. 

The client stopped and looked back at him. “What is it, boy? I have better things to do than stand here and watch you figure out what to say.“

“Uh… what do I call you?“ He couldn't just keep referring to him as 'the client' if he was going to work for him. He also didn't know what else to ask. 

“Malos.“

“Alright then, Malos,“ Rex said. “Here's to a good working relationship!“

The smirk crept back on Malos' face. “If you say so, kid.“

That was certainly an odd reaction, but then everything else about this man was odd too. Rex looked after him as he left the office until the door was shut by Bana's assistant, then collected his advance from Bana, who was complaining about rowdy behaviour. Most of that money was going straight back to Leftheria, but he had a few things he'd been meaning to buy. 100,000G! That was so much! And it wasn't even all of it!

 

“You did _what?_ “

“I took on a job, like I said!“ Rex had to raise his voice for Gramps to hear him. The harbour was always loud, between the gurgle of the Cloud Sea, ships docking or departing and people yelling at each other over the other noises. 

Gramps bowed his head down and looked at him sternly. “I heard you just fine. Why would you take a job you know nothing about? For employers you know nothing about? Do you even know their names?“

“What? I know what the job's about. He wants a ship hauled up. Sure, it's a bit bigger than what I usually do, but I can handle it.“ He was a salvager of renown (even if Malos didn't want to believe it)! Of course he could handle it. 

“And did you ask _why_ he wants that ship hauled up, or what he plans to do with it?“

“Well… no.“ He should have, come to think of it. It had slipped his mind after Malos had attacked him. (Which was something he probably shouldn't tell Gramps about.) “Doesn't matter too much though, does it? I bet he thinks there's treasure on it or something.“

“Rex!“ Oh no, that was the scolding voice. “Of course it matters. What if it's something dangerous or illegal? Do you know how much trouble you could get yourself into?“

Rex sighed. “Gramps, you're such a worrywart. This came straight from the Chairman, remember? Do you think he'd get involved in something like that?“

From the look on Gramps' face he had opinions on that, but Rex wasn't going to let him voice them. “It'll be fine! I'm old enough to take care of myself, and Bana said he hired other salvagers to help out, so it's not like I'll be on my own. Just trust me!“

“Did you at least ask who your employer is? Or did you neglect that too?“ Gramps bowed his head down even further, until they were almost at eye level. 

“Of course I asked that. I have to call him something, don't I? Even if he's kind of rude. His name's Ma—“

A commotion from across the harbour interrupted him. The harbourmaster seemed to be arguing with a gaggle of Ardainian soldiers, for some reason. One of them had started yelling at the top of his lungs, which was enough to stand out among the general noise. “—and don't forget it!“

Strange. Soldiers didn't come to the Goldmouth all that often. “Do you know what they're doing here, Gramps?“

“They've been skulking around all day,“ Gramps said. “I've seen them harrass people passing through. Looks like the harbourmaster finally had enough.“

“I hope he'll be fine. They sound really angry.“ Rex resolved to stop by and check on him later, if he had the time before departing. 

“I hope so too, but—“ Gramps' tone turned accusatory, “—don't change the subject! We were talking about your new job.“

Aw. Gramps wasn't going to let it slide, was he? Rex really didn't want to sit through this conversation. “Oh, thanks for reminding me! They'll be waiting for me by now. See you in a day or two, Gramps! Just take it as a holiday!“

“Hey, wait, you haven't told me—“

But Rex was already running off to the other side of Argentum. He wasn't going to be late to a job like this!

 

The Maelstrom was imposing as ever. What a marvel of engineering. The way the salvaging cranes detached from the main ship to provide additional anchor points! Oh, the things he could haul up with that. Gramps' little crane couldn't compare to it. If Bana was willing to wheel it out, that Malos guy had to be paying some serious money on top of what he was already paying the crew. 

“Finally found your way here, eh? Took you long enough.“ 

Rex turned around. Malos stood behind him, arms crossed and looking down on him. His eyes were… cold, maybe that was the best word. Like he was looking at something that had crawled out from under a rock. Maybe Gramps had been right… but no, the Chairman himself had approved, it would be fine. And the folks back in Fonsett could use that money. No time for doubt now! 

“I had to run some errands. Buy some things, you know? I don't often have that much money at hand.“

Malos eyed him for another moment, then turned away and stepped on the gangway. “I can imagine. Now stop talking and get on board. This is already taking longer than I'd like.“

Malos' Blade stopped next to him. “It's rare to find someone who can evade Malos' attacks, and you're not even a Driver. Not bad, boy, not bad...“ 

Was that a compliment? The Blade, while humanoid, had a face that was completely unreadable. He looked like he was wearing a metal mask, except that was probably his actual face, and his eyes were simply two glowing orbs betraying no emotions. 

“Um. Thanks, I suppose. By the way, what's your name? Malos didn't introduce you.“ Rex would have found that strange, but then Malos hadn't introduced himself until he'd asked either. 

“Ehehehe… no, he didn't. The name's Sever.“ 

Malos was, apparently, not the only one prone to weird reactions. Why'd Sever laugh? Had he missed a joke somewhere?

Sever was still staring at him. Wow, this was a really uncomfortable situation. “N-nice to meet you too, Sever.“

This was going to be a fun job, wasn't it? His employer was as odd as he was rude and brash, and his Blade followed suit. Alrest was home to all sorts of people, but he'd never met anyone like them. 

At least he had the rest of the crew to talk to. He wasn't familiar with the Maelstrom's own crew, but he knew most of the other salvagers Bana had hired. Salvagers congregated, and the Goldmouth was home to many of them. 

He walked over to them. Greetings were exchanged, and Rex settled down with them. 

“So who do you think he is, and what he's after on that ship?“

Rex looked at his fellow salvager. “Don't know! All he told me is his name and that he needed that ship hauled up. I figure if he's paying that much he gets to be secretive.“

“Hah! If there's nothing shady going on I'd be very surprised. Not my business though. I'll take the money and keep my mouth shut.“

He thought it was shady too? Rex supposed he couldn't exactly blame them. There _was_ something fishy about Malos. But then he was a Driver. Weren't Blades supposed to reject untrustworthy people? Not that he'd know himself. This was the closest he'd ever gotten to a real Driver. But that's what he'd always heard, in all the stories. 

“What's his accent, anyway? I keep trying to pinpoint it, but I can't figure it out. It almost sounds Indoline, but then not really...“ 

“Does he look like an Indolite to you? I don't see blue skin or weird ears on him.“

“Suppose you're right, but what else would it be? Can't be Ardainian, definitely not Urayan...“

The discussion went on. Rex didn't feel like he could contribute anything. About the only accent he could recognise reliably was Leftherian, and it was obvious that it wasn't that. Apparently it wasn't any of the others either, though; the crew couldn't come to an agreement and ended up giving up. The conversation moved to other topics: Booze, salvaging tips, that new type of cylinder someone at the Goldmouth was developing...

The foreman tapped on his shoulder. “Rex. You've got night watch, so you might want to rest a bit before then.“ 

Rex nodded. The lottery had hit him then. That was just how it was. Someone had to do it and they weren't going to be out long enough to rotate through everyone. He stood up. “Nice chatting, everyone! I'll go take a nap beforehand. Talk to you tomorrow!“

 

Things were uneventful that night. Rex stood on top of the lookout and scanned the cloud sea. There were no monsters or titans in sight, nor any other ships. That was how he wanted it. The best kind of nightwatch was the one that was unnecessary. 

A sliver of yellow down on the ship deck caught his eye. Was that… a girl? Yes, there was someone wearing yellow sneaking across the deck. Rex didn't recognise her, and she didn't look like a salvager or a sailor. Who was that?

He hurried down the stairs and went after her. There—she was pushing the door inside open, apparently trying not to make too much noise. 

“Hey! Hey, you!“

The girl jumped (quite literally—she leapt into the air) and whirled around. Up close, Rex noticed that she had cat ears—a Gormotti, then? Those rings on her belt looked like weapons. She was armed. Rex took a defensive position and drew his sword. “Who are you?“

Looking side to side, the girl shrank back. “I was just—“

A large white tiger leapt into the space between them. Rex stumbled back, weapon held out in front of him, and saw a blue gem glowing brightly on its (his? her?) chest. A Blade?!

He was prepared for the worst, but the Blade didn't attack. Instead, it bowed its head. “Please, put away your sword. We mean you no harm. We merely needed a place to stay for a while.“

“To stay?“ Rex blinked. Why would a Driver need to stow away on a boat? Drivers were welcome everywhere! “Are you… do you have anything to do with Malos?“

“Malos? Who's that?“ The girl shook her head. “I don't even know where you're going. I… all I needed was a place to hide, okay?“

So she was in trouble? He'd always thought Drivers could get out of any trouble easily but then… she looked like she was his age. Not like the amazing people he'd heard so much about. “Uh… is everything alright?“

“No, stupid, why would I be hiding if everything was alright?“ The girl took a deep breath. “Look, just… just don't sell us out. I didn't mean to be here in the first place, but you took off before we could leave. I swear we have nothing to do with you, or this mission, or this Malos guy. You won't even notice we're here.“

Then the girl's stomach gave off an audible growl. 

“You hungry? Here, I brought a snack.“ Midnight watch could get lengthy. He'd learned the hard way that it paid to have something to eat. Fortunately Auntie Corinne had sent him homemade braised cloud sea shark. He'd been looking forward to eating it himself, but a shared meal was a tasty meal, right?

“You're just giving that to me?“ The girl made no motion to take it from him. “I'm a stowaway. You're not supposed to _feed_ me, you're supposed to throw me over board, or something! But if you're not going to, you can put that away now. I don't like having weapons pointed at me.“

“Oh, uh, right.“ Rex put his sword back into its harness. “As for the food, I can't very well let you starve. Besides, you were going to steal from the supplies anyway, weren't you?“ The look on her face was answer enough. That was exactly what she'd been planning to do. “You said you don't mean any harm, so as far as I'm concerned there's no problem with you staying.“

The girl stared for a moment. “And you're going to believe that? After I told you I need to hide? You don't even know who I am!“

“Sure! You're a Driver, aren't you? And you don't look evil anyway.“ And they hadn't attacked him. If they wanted to harm anyone on board, surely they would have silenced him rather than asking him to stay quiet? 

“Really? You're that naive?“ The girl shook her head, but she didn't seem to be mad. “Aren't you going to ask who I'm hiding from? Not curious at all?“

“Of course I'm curious, but that doesn't mean I should be nosy. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone you're here if you don't cause any trouble.“

The girl didn't look like she believed him, but she finally grabbed the food he offered. That was something, wasn't it?

“My name's Rex. What's yours?“

“Nia. This is Dromarch. And don't go telling anyone that either!“ Nia took a big bite of cloud sea shark. “Mmh, fish...“

Dromarch bowed his head. “Thank you for your kindness. Please forgive my Lady her discourtesy. It's been… a long day.“ 

Nia grumbled something that was probably rude through her food.

“This a salvaging mission, then? Aren't you a little young for that?“ she asked after she'd wolfed it all down.

“Hey, I'll have you know I was handpicked for this! Besides, it's not like you're any older than me. Aren't you a little young to be a Driver?“ Was there an age limit to being a Driver? Probably not, but Rex did wonder how she had come to be one. There were always more core crystals than potential Drivers, but they didn't exactly hand them out like candy. 

Nia glared at him. “That's obviously different. You—“

Voices rose from the other side of the deck. Nia jumped again. Rex looked around to make sure nobody was watching, then leaned forward. “You can go back into hiding. I'll smuggle out food for you tomorrow, okay? Meet me here, same time.“

Nia nodded very slowly, then when the voices grew louder darted off, followed by Dromarch. Hopefully she had a good hiding spot.

 

“We're in position. All personnel, report to stations.“

Rex' eyes snapped open over the announcement. He'd gone back to sleep after nightwatch to be well-rested for the job. It seemed like they'd finally arrived. Time to get dressed. He put on his diving suit, taking extra care to check whether it was sealed properly. He was going down deep today and he didn't need a suit failure 450 peds down. 

Malos was watching them as they walked to the hatch, still with that calculating, cold gaze. It hadn't become any more comfortable, especially not with Sever next to him mimicking it, but Rex had learned early on that there would always be clients you just didn't like. All he could do was get the job done and forget about it. 

The clanging of heavy boots on metal was drowned out by the thunder and heavy rain, but he didn't mind. It was all the same once you were down in the Cloud Sea, and it wasn't like he was going to get wet in the suit. The Maelstrom was swaying in the storm, and he held on to the railing to avoid falling off. It didn't matter much either way, but jumping in prematurely was taboo among salvagers. 

When the foreman gave the signal, Rex pushed himself off the platform and plunged into the clouds. They closed over his head and the world went silent. The Cloud Sea didn't carry sound very well. No matter how noisy it was above, once you submerged you stopped hearing it. He'd heard others call it creepy, but he'd always thought of it as peaceful. All the strife and trouble happening above the clouds simply didn't matter down here. 

450 titanpeds down, huh. He turned on his lamp and started the long dive. 

The ship, when it finally came into view, was massive, far bigger than the Maelstrom or any other ship he'd ever seen. It wasn't _like_ any other ship he'd seen either. Who had built this? All sorts of vehicles stopped by the Goldmouth, but never one like this. The propulsion mechanic was… strange, to say the least. 

Hauling it up came first, though. It would be easier to take a closer look afterwards. He hooked himself to the ship and attached his flotation device. It looked like the others were just about done too; he waved to them before grabbing on to the crane that would pull them up along with the ship. The flotation devices inflated and the ship shuddered into motion, slowly being pulled upwards. Pulling up something this big wasn't a quick affair; Rex let himself float and examined the ship some more. 

He could see no way to attach a titan to it. He'd heard of titan-less ships, certainly, but how could something of this size work without a titan? And it didn't look like it was a new invention either. From what he could tell, this had to have been submerged for hundreds of years. How had the people back then accomplished something like this?

They broke the surface, and the storm returned. If the sea had been rough on the boat, it was worse out here. The wind tossed the cranes around and they all held on for dear life. The ship emerged slighty after them, and it looked even bigger than it had down there. It dwarfed the Maelstrom. What exactly was it that Malos could want from it? 

Ladders were thrown so that they could climb up to it. Having solid ground below their feet was nice, even if the ship was still swaying in the storm. 

“Whew, that sure was something. Never hauled up anything this big. Something to brag about later,“ one of the salvagers said. “Now let's hope our employer hauls his ass out here quickly. Don't like standing out here in the storm.“

Speak of the devil, there was Malos, crossing the gangway from the Maelstrom and stepping onto the ship. “I suppose you're good for something after all, boy… It matches the reports. It's exactly what I expected…“

He stared at the ship for an uncomfortable amount of time before turning back to Rex. “You, boy, you're coming with me. Time to get what I came here for.“

Wow, wasn't that going to be fun, searching that ship with this guy, but he'd made it this far; might as well go all the way. “What is it that you're looking for? If I'm going to help you search I—“

“You're not going to help me search,“ Malos said. “Now stop asking stupid questions and come on. I don't have all day.“ He approached the closed door leading inside, but before he could do anything half the door was ripped from its hinges as a huge monster muscled its way outside. Its many eyes moved independently, and then it skittered forward on six legs, gurgling with excitement.

Yells could be heard across the ship as the other salvagers and Rex reached for their weapons. Monster attacks were always a possibility in this line of work, but that didn't diminish the danger. This was a big one, and the ground was slippery with water and remains of the Cloud Sea. 

Before any of them could do anything, though, Malos stepped forward and drew his weapon. “You're not going to let us pass, huh? Sound like a challenge...“

He dodged a front leg slicing down on him, and then that same leg flew away, cut off at the joint. Then Malos' sword _shifted_ , somehow, from its wavy backhanded form into a straight longsword. He slashed upwards and a bright green energy beam burrowed its way deep into the monster's face. It collapsed with a shriek and twitched feebly until Malos buried the sword deep into its skull. 

That monster, which would have kept Rex and the others on their toes, had gone down so easily. Drivers were incredible! Making short work of a monster like this, on his own? His Blade hadn't even done anything! He could hear the rest of the crew mumbling among themselves. “Amazing… he's like a monster himself…!“

“When you're done hoping for an autograph, close that gaping mouth of yours and follow me.“ Malos put his weapon away and made for the ship's entrance. 

He acted like it wasn't a big deal. Maybe it wasn't, to a Driver. Maybe they dealt with threats like this all the time. 

Hopefully there weren't more of those inside. But then again, what could possibly harm him with a Driver by his side?

 

“This is well preserved...“ Rex looked around. The ship wasn't working anymore, but someone who knew their stuff could probably restore it. A lot of gunk had built up over time, but the pipes were holding up fairly well, and structural integrity seemed to be largely intact. Even some of the lighting was still functional! Thankfully so. He had a headlight, but ambient lighting was preferable. 

The smell, however, he could live without. Years and years of being submerged in the Cloud Sea and used as a breeding ground for who knows what did not make for a pleasant fragrance. 

Malos peered down a corridor, apparently trying to decide whether that was the right way. “Unsurprising. They don't built them like this anymore...“

“So you know who built this?“ He still couldn't figure it out. Ships without titans existed, but on this scale?

“Need-to-know basis, boy. Stop asking questions.“ Malos seemed to have decided on another path. This one was full of debris and required climbing to get through. Malos, with his longer legs, quickly took the lead. 

Rex hurried to catch up. “I get that, but how can I help you search if I don't know anything?“

“Didn't I tell you already? You're not here to help me search. I'll know where it is when I see it.“ Malos did something strange: He placed a hand on his left shoulder, then rolled both it and his neck backwards. Almost looked like he was trying to alleviate pain. Come to think of it, hadn't he seen him do that on the Maelstrom too?

“Then what am I here for? ...oh, right, need-to-know basis.“ Rex wasn't about to throw down the job over something like this, but it did feel frustrating. What was it that was so important to keep secret? 

“You're catching on. Come on, this way.“

The corridors stretched on, and Rex was starting to feel progressively more useless. Malos didn't seem to need him for anything; he could find the way himself, he could open jammed doors himself (by ripping them free from their hinges—whatever worked, Rex thought), he could dispose of any monsters they met far more easily…

The man seemed to calm down a little the longer they walked. As they searched the wreck he became less prone to snapping, and even willing to make smalltalk. It was, admittedly, in the form of describing the function of entrails pouring out of a dead monster's body, something Rex hadn't asked for nor wanted to know, but it was better than nothing. 

“So how'd you become a Driver?“ Rex asked as they climbed over yet another piece of debris. That was innocent enough to ask, right? It had nothing to do with their current job, after all.

“Still not done asking questions, I see.“ Malos continued before Rex had the chance to backtrack. “I picked up a core crystal. It worked. That's all there is to it.“ Sever was laughing to himself again, for whatever reason. 

“Why do you think it doesn't work for most people?“ That was something Rex had always wondered. There were the stories about having a pure heart, of course, but there had to be more people with pure hearts than there were Drivers. 

“Who knows, kid. Who even knows...“ For a moment he seemed lost in thought. Then he snapped out of it and started prying another door open. The screeching noise it made as it was forced open prohibited any conversation. They could continue talking once they were through. 

Except that, after Malos stepped through the doorway, he froze. He didn't even respond when Rex bumped into him. 

“Addam's Crest. No mistaking it...“

Addam's Crest? What was that? Rex peered past Malos. The room looked empty aside from another door on the other side. This one showed no signs of wear, and it was adorned with a strange pattern. Was that the crest?

“This is it. You, open that door.“

Huh? 

“Wait a second. Are you telling me you brought me here to open a door?“

The look Malos gave him made him shrink back. They'd gotten on a bit better while on the ship, but this? This was way worse than what he'd been like originally. Rex swallowed anything else he could have said and went to investigate the door. He couldn't see a keyhole or a doorknob or anything like it; there was only that strange seal. Experimentally, he put his hand on it and was surprised to find the door slide open. (Amazing how that was still working!)

That was easy. Why hadn't Malos just done it himself?

He swallowed that question as well. 

“Open the other one too. Hurry up!“

Ah, yes, there was another door at the end of a short corridor. He opened it the same way and stepped into another room, this one quite large and…

There was a girl sleeping in a glass tank, a girl with flaming red hair and big _(no don't look there)_ , and a sword stuck in the ground in front of it; a sword like nothing he'd ever seen, with a bright green glowing gemstone set into the hilt. He reached out to it…

“Hey, brat, don't even think about touching that!“

...he flinched, his fingertips brushed over it, and a moment later he watched the bright blue edge of Malos' sword emerge from his chest.

It didn't even hurt. He knew it _should_ , but all he felt was numbness and cold. His hand reaching up to the weapon (it was the longsword form, he noted) felt more like a foreign object than a part of his body. 

“Why—“ The world started to fade. That one word was all he could utter. The last thing he heard before everything went black was Malos' voice.

“Don't worry. The rest of that pitiful gaggle of a crew is going to join you in a minute.“

 

The sky was a gorgeous shade of azure, he noticed, with little tufts of cloud dotting it. He wasn't sure _why_ he noticed, nor was he sure why he was lying on his back on a patch of grass. There was a bell tolling somewhere, mixed in with birdsong. Wasn't there a place that had that? The Praetorium of Indol?

He pushed himself to his feet and looked around. Where was he, anyway, and how had he gotten there? He didn't remember coming to a place like this. Or ever being in a place like this, for that matter. Leftheria didn't have endless green plains.

There was someone standing next to that lone tree in the distance. Rex squinted. He'd seen her before, hadn't he? He couldn't remember where or when, but she seemed so familiar.

He made his way over. “Um, excuse me…?“

“It's such a mournful sound, that bell… it hasn't stopped in all those years.“ She looked into the distance, keeping her back to him. 

“Uh… where are we, exactly?“

“This is… Elysium. The paradise where mankind lived together with their creator, and the place where… we were born.“

Rex' eyes widened. Elysium? _The_ Elysium? How had he—why was he— “What… really?!“ He stepped up on the hill she was standing on and she turned her head and nodded. Now that he could see her front half _(look up, look up)_ , he noticed a glowing green cross on her chest. That looked like…

“Is that a core crystal? You're a Blade?“

“My name is Pyra,“ she said with a smile. Yes, he'd definitely seen her before, but where would he have seen a Blade like this, and how did he forget about it? It made no sense. 

“And you're Rex, right?“

What? So they did know each other! Oh crap, he'd actually forgotten her. That was so embarrassing. “How did you know my name?“

“Just now, when we came into contact...“

Just now? But he hadn't touched her. What was she referring to? “I'm… sorry, I can't seem to remember how I got here.“

She was silent for a moment, then lowered her gaze to the ground. “You were… killed. Stabbed through the heart by Malos.“

Stabbed through the…?

And then the memories came rushing in. Exploring the ancient ship. Touching the crystal. Malos' sword coming out of his chest…

Oh Architect. He was _actually dead._

He found himself on his knees, hand pressed to his mouth. “That bastard, he… he killed me!“ And what was it that he'd said to him before he… died? Oh no. _Oh no._

“This is bad, everyone in the guild is in danger—“ He jumped up, ready to go and do something and then realised he was dead. He couldn't do anything! “Titan's foot, if I wasn't dead I'd kick that guy's arse!“

“Rex. I have a request.“

He turned around to Pyra. She was looking at him, her face somber. “Can you take me… to Elysium?“

“Huh? But isn't that here?“ That's what she'd said, wasn't it?

“This isn't the real Elysium.“ She looked… sad, almost. “It's just an ancient half-forgotten memory. The real Elysium lies in your world, atop the World Tree.“

In his…? He knew that's where Elysium was, but how had he gotten into her _memories_? “How can I help you if I'm dead?“

“I will give you half of my life force. It'll replace your heart, and you can be revived, as my Driver… as the Driver of the Aegis.“

Driver? Of the Aegis? Who exactly was she, having memories of Elysium? ...well, it didn't make much of a difference now, did it? If he wanted to save everyone, he had no choice either way.

“I'm in. Let's go to Elysium. I'll take you there myself.“

Pyra gave him a smile. “Thank you, Rex. Now, put your hand on my chest.“

Huh?!

_(No, don't look there, whatever you do don't look there…)_

“Oh. Oh, right, you mean the crystal.“ That was significantly less awkward. He gingerly extended his hand and lightly brushed the crystal's surface. 

The area around them erupted into green flames, but they didn't burn him even as they consumed him. They grew brighter and brighter until everything disappeared in a flash of light.

And then he opened his eyes and the familiar musty environment of the old ship came into view, as well as the sword he'd touched earlier. Huh. That was apparently his now. It fit his hands well, somehow.

Wait, but he had no time for this, he had to save the others! He couldn't go all the way back to the deck. There had to be a faster way. What if…? 

He aimed the sword at the ceiling and swung, the way he'd seen Malos do it for his energy beam attack. A massive stream of fire burst out of the sword's tip. The ceiling started glowing red hot and he jumped, pushing it outward and breaking through to the ship's deck. 

And landed right next to a corpse. He remembered him. That was the salvager who'd wanted to brag about the job. No… No! Was he too late?

“You, and that sword… can't be!“

Rex looked up. There was Malos, cornering the rest of the crew. And then Pyra was by his side, here in the real world, nodding at him. The glass tank she'd been in was just a smoldering husk now.

“So you've gone and became the Driver of the Aegis, huh? Big mistake, kid. I don't mind killing you a second time.“ Malos turned away from the crew and walked towards him. There was a smirk on his face. Rex couldn't believe it. This guy had killed an innocent person and _smiled_ about it!

“Like I'll let you kill me or anyone else, you bloody psychopath! Pyra, cover me!“

“Got it!“

His sword clashed with Malos'. Somewhere behind him Pyra was engaging Sever, but Malos didn't give him the time to pay attention to them. “You think you can take me? Don't make me laugh, boy.“ With a casual fling of his arm he threw Rex backwards and then rushed at him again. This wasn't like back in Bana's office. His strikes hit harder and faster, and soon Rex' arms were burning. But he couldn't give up! 

“Your form isn't half bad,“ Malos said in between clashing blades. “Who's this 'Gramps' who taught you?“

“Like I'll tell you!“ He couldn't get a hit in. No matter what angle he attacked from, that blue blade always blocked it. Pyra was still fighting Sever. She couldn't help him. He had to win this on his own. 

But before he could do anything, Malos slammed his foot into him and sent him flying across the ship. He hit the ground hard and when he looked up, he saw a bright green energy wave coming his way. And then Pyra stood in front of him, blocking it off with a shield. He jumped to his feet. “Thanks, Pyra.“

“Going to hide behind her? I'll deal with the other vermin first then.“ Malos raised his sword to unleash another attack, but Rex wasn't about to let that happen. 

“Everyone go now, quick!“ He flung himself back at the man to buy them some time. Out of the corner of his eye he could see them make a run for the gangway. He had to keep Malos busy!

Malos reached out with a hand shrouded in darkness and _grabbed_ his sword. 

“Don't get cocky, you little shit.“

A fist smashed into his stomach and he went flying for the second time. The sword clattered to the ground far outside of his reach. He struggled to suck in a breath, no matter how small, but found that he couldn't. Pyra called out for him, but he couldn't move… 

A deafening roar resounded across the deck, and Sever abandoned his battle with Pyra to protect Malos from a blast of water. A big white tiger jumped in front of Rex. The girl riding it turned to him. “You got yourself into a fine mess, eh, Rex?“ 

“Nia! Dromarch! You saved me!“

“Couldn't stand by and watch.“ She sounded almost embarrassed. “The others are safe. The ship's departing.“

She was right. The Maelstrom was drifting away from the ship. Thank goodness, nobody else had died...

“That wasn't very smart of you, boy. Now you're stuck here with me and Sever, and that little girl isn't going to stop anyone.“ Malos straightened and moved to resume his attack, but Pyra, now free to act, darted across the deck to pick up her sword. Sever tried to intercept her and she leapt over him, striking at Malos. For a moment she was suspended in mid air, on top of Malos' sword, then she jumped off.

Rex' eyes widened when he saw the battle. They were moving so fast! He'd never seen anyone fight like that before. Strike after strike after strike, and neither of them could gain the upper hand. They were talking, too, but he couldn't make out what they were saying over the rain. 

Nia, meanwhile, was fending off Sever. Rex struggled to his feet, trying to think of something to help, but what could he do? He had no weapon and he was no good at hand to hand combat—

Sever blew up in flames and a huge shadow passed over the ship. Rex looked up and saw a familiar shape circling above. “Gramps!“

“Everyone, get on, quickly!“ Gramps descended. Nia reached out to Rex and pulled him on top of Dromarch's back, and Pyra disengaged from her battle with Malos. 

“You think I'll let you escape?“ 

Dromarch dodged another energy blast at the last second and then leapt over to Gramps, followed by Pyra. “Everyone, hold tight, we're—“ Gramps cut off in a groan. Rex looked back. There was a gaping wound in Gramps' side. “Gramps, you're hurt!“

“Don't worry about me, Rex… let's just get out of here.“

Rex nodded, still looking behind them. Malos seemed to be staring after them. He had a feeling this wasn't the last time they'd see him.


	2. Attitudes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to add a note real quick in case anyone who hasn't finished the game yet is reading this: Due to the nature of this story, revelations will happen at a different pace. Even if you've finished the equivalent part of the game doesn't mean you're safe from spoilers. Read at your own risk. 
> 
> Thanks again to Cal and Lonetaku for their help!

Chairman Bana wasn't particularly happy. One might even say he was particularly _unhappy_. Krujah could tell because books had gone flying. That only ever happened when Bana was very displeased.

At least he hadn't thrown the communication device at her again, and then gotten even angrier because it broke. 

This time he was raging over a job gone wrong. The one for that tall dark stranger with the delicious cheekbones. Considering the client hadn't even come back from the job, “gone wrong“ might be an understatement. Some of the salvagers hadn't come back either, but of course, that wasn't what Bana was concerned about. No, he worried that the client might have survived and would ask for a refund.

Why was she even working for that scumbag? (Money, obviously. But still.)

She and Harghal had asked around to find out what happened, but they hadn't been able to get much out of the crew. Something about a strange Blade? Rex flying away on a Titan? The client going crazy and trying to murder everyone? Krujah didn't know what to believe. Some of the things they'd told her sounded far too wild to be true. 

“Bah. Doesn't matter. If client returns I'll find way to deal with it. In the meantime...“

Apparently he'd calmed down while she'd been lost in thought. Good. That meant not having to dodge any more flying objects. 

“You, girl. Get other clients in Mor Ardain on the line.“ Bana beckoned her closer. 

If Bana's shady schemes were ever uncovered, she'd be lucky to only lose her job. How many illegal things was he involved in anyway? The client who hadn't returned was one thing; he'd seemed sketchy, but he wasn't nearly as secretive as this other group. Krujah wasn't even allowed to see their faces. And they wanted Bana to manufacture something for them, in Mor Ardain out of all places? Why? That wasn't a service Bana usually offered. 

She finished setting up the connection and stepped back for Bana to handle the call. As usual, they were being cagey with information; all they talked about was whether 'the goods' were ready for pickup. The client sounded less than pleased over Bana asking for another extension, but eventually he relented and agreed. 

Krujah grimaced when they mentioned the money they'd pay Bana upon delivery. They had that much cash and what were they doing with it? Shady business to make even more cash. Why couldn't they just be satisfied with what they had? If she was that rich, she'd retire and never work another day in her life. Wealthy people were strange. 

 

“Ungh...“

Rex opened his eyes and immediately wanted to close them again. His head felt like it was going to split open. He hadn't felt this bad since he'd smacked into his crane last year.

Who was that looking down at him? Ah, right. Pyra. They'd met… on a ship. Where she'd been sleeping, for some reason. His memory felt fuzzy. 

He sat up and groaned. Ouch. 

“Careful,“ Pyra said, steadying him. “You bonked your head when we fell. Take it easy for now.“

That would explain the pain. Rex gingerly touched the back of his head and flinched when his fingers met a sizeable bump. No wonder he had such a headache. 

“Where are we?“ Rex looked around. Overgrown trees on the right, a cliffside on the left, and in the distance giant roots dangled in mid-air. The atmosphere was wet and cold, and he could see cloud sludge pooling in hollows on the ground. This area got flooded during high tide. 

“We seem to have washed up on a Titan of some sort.“ Pyra stood up and walked to the edge of the cliff. Rex slowly pushed himself to his feet. Good, he wasn't hurt that badly if he could stand up already. He followed her and saw the Cloud Sea surging far below them. This wasn't a small Titan like the one carrying the Goldmouth. This one had to be huge, for them to be this high up. The Leftherian Titans could come up to heights like this, but then they floated freely. The times he'd flown around on Gramps he'd...

Wait. He _had_ flown around on Gramps. That's how they'd gotten here. They'd fled from that ship and Gramps had crashed on this Titan! 

“Where's Gramps, and Nia and Dromarch?“ He and Pyra had fallen off when Gramps had dipped, and he hadn't been able to see what happened to the others. They had to be somewhere around here.

“No need to look for us, we're right here.“ Nia, leaning on Dromarch, emerged from the trees, making a face when she stepped into a deep cloud puddle. The sludge stuck to her boots. 

“Nia! Are you alright?“ Rex hurried towards her. 

“I've been better,“ Nia said. “But don't worry about me. We need to find—Gramps, you called him?“

“Look, those trees over there—they've been flattened recently. It must have been Azurda,“ Pyra said. She was right. The splintered wood looked fresh. 

“How do you know his—ah, let's talk about that later.“ Rex grabbed his helmet off the ground and rushed off in the direction of the trees. 

It didn't take long until they found him. His massive body lay sprawled across the forest floor, with a long jagged wound gaping open in his side. Ether particles leaked out of it and dissolved in the air. 

“How awful...“ Pyra muttered.

“Gramps! Hold on, I'll—“ Rex reached for his pouch. He had to do something about that injury. How were Titans treated? Ah, he had some herbs somewhere, didn't he, those would help—

Gramps cracked open an eye. “Rex… it's good to see you unharmed. I was worried when you fell...“

“I—“ This couldn't be happening. Gramps was going to be okay, wasn't he? Everything would be fine, if only he could find those herbs. 

“Don't worry about me, Rex. This too is fate. If the ether wills it, we will surely meet again. The time with you… was...“ Gramps' voice trailed off. His eyelids fluttered and then closed. One last shudder and his body went still. 

“Gramps? Gramps, no, wake up!“ No reaction. His gravelly skin felt cold, so much colder than usual under his hand. “You can't just fall asleep here, Gramps. We're in the middle of the forest and, and we need to leave before the tide catches up with us...“ 

An ether particle rose from his body, then another, and another. Holes emerged and spread further and further until, eventually, nothing remained but a single small crystal lying where Gramps' body had been. 

The ether fog tingled on his hands as it dissipated. 

Gramps was dead. 

And it was all his fault. 

He fell to his knees and his vision blurred. Tears dripped onto the ground, where they mixed with cloud slurry. He could see that it glowed faintly. It was saturated with ether, ether that had come from…

Pyra knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Rex, I'm… so sorry.“ 

Rex wiped his eyes. “No… no, I'm the one who should be sorry. If I hadn't accepted the job, if I'd just listened to him...“ Gramps had tried to warn him. Told him he was being reckless. If only he hadn't been so stupid…

But then he wouldn't have met Pyra, and that meant that Malos might have gotten his hands on her and killed the rest of the crew. 

Why couldn't he have saved both of them?

“We shouldn't stay here for too long.“ Nia spoke up for the first time, without looking at him. “The tides're going to change soon. We need to leave before that happens.“

“I—I know.“

Pyra offered him a hand and helped him get up. His eyes fell on the crystal still lying on that ground. It looked familiar. “Is that a core crystal?“

He picked it up. It was much lighter than he'd expected. Core crystals had always looked heavy to him; they were bigger than his fist and made of solid… something. A kind of mineral? This one seemed to weigh almost nothing, though. 

“Yes. That's where they come from, didn't you know? When a Titan dies...“ Nia stopped. “Sorry. Blades are born from Titans. That's how it works.“

Rex swallowed. He wasn't going to start crying again. It wouldn't bring Gramps back, and the old man wouldn't have wanted him to break down like this. Instead, he looked at the crystal in his hand. He had never thought about how core crystals were created. A nobody like him wouldn't get his hands on one anyway; why spend time thinking about how they came to be? Never in a million years would he have guessed that Titans turned into Blades.

“So, if I resonate with it…!“

“He won't remember you.“ Pyra met his gaze. “I know what you're thinking. Blades don't keep their memories after awakening. He'll be a stranger to you.“

The terrible crushing realisation that Gramps was gone came back. But even so, maybe he should do it anyway. It wouldn't be Gramps, but at the same time, a part of him would return. But seeing him, knowing he was sort of Gramps but without recognising him...

“You don't have to decide right now.“

Rex looked up from the crystal. 

“We can take it with us, and you can take some time to see if you want to do it or not.“ Pyra squeezed his shoulder. 

He returned her smile, even if shakily, and nodded. “I think I'll do that. Thanks. And sorry for holding you up. We can go now.“ 

Nia climbed up on Dromarch's back and took the lead. She seemed to have been in the area before; there was no hesitation on her part on where to go. 

“Thanks for saving us,“ she said as Dromarch carried her across a fallen log. “And I'm sorry about your… about Gramps. If it hadn't been for him, we would've been…“

She paused.

“What was any of that, anyway? Who was that guy, and what did he want with you?“

Rex had wondered about that as well. Malos was clearly not an ordinary man, and not just because 'Driver' and 'ordinary man' were mutually exclusive. Pyra, likewise, didn't seem to be an ordinary Blade (even though no Blade was ordinary). 

“Well, u-um, I...“ Pyra had stopped. Her gaze was trained to the ground. She tried again and couldn't seem to find the right words.

Nia cut her off before she could try a third time. “I get it. We all have our secrets. Just tell me this: Is he going to come after you again?“ 

“I think so. Malos isn't the type to give up so easily.“

So they knew each other. Rex had suspected it, but he wasn't sure why Pyra would know someone like Malos. 

Hold on. Why did she even remember him? She must have been in that ship for so long her former Driver couldn't be alive anymore. Shouldn't she have forgotten about Malos and Elysium and everything else? 

He snapped out of his thoughts when Nia spoke up. 

“Don't take it personally, but I won't be sticking around with you guys in that case. Life's hard enough without someone like that on your tail. I'll show you to the next city and then we'll go separate ways.“ Her ears drooped as she said it. 

“Well, I can't blame you for that...“ Pyra's shoulders fell even further. 

The atmosphere had turned gloomy. It didn't need to be any gloomier than it already was. Time for a topic change. “Next city? Do you know where we are, then?“ 

Nia nodded. “Of course I do. This is Gormott.“

So this was what Gormott was like! He'd heard it was full of trees, but he hadn't imagined something like this. They were nothing like the ones growing around Fonsett. “You live here then?“

“Used to, at any rate,“ Nia said. “I can take you to Torigoth. It's the biggest city here. Hey, don't fall behind. I know we're all tired, but we can't rest here if we don't want to get caught by the tide.“

It would have been nice to sit down and rest for a while, but Rex wasn't going to hold them up even more. “We'll be fine until we can get to a safe area. Right, Pyra?“ 

“Yes, I can keep going.“

The trek to higher areas turned out to be arduous. Nia had them climb trees still slippery with clouds, and the occasional monster harangued them on the way. Eventually, however, they reached dry ground looking over a gigantic green plain interspersed with equally gigantic trees. In the distance the Titan's head moved slowly from side to side. 

“Woah… I've never seen anything like this!“ Rex didn't know where to look first. The sheer size was mindboggling! 

“Torigoth is over there, see?“ Nia pointed towards the far end of the plain, where a city lay nestled within a huge tree's roots. It was big enough to swallow the entire Goldmouth several times over. How many people lived in a city of that size?

They rested on the plateau for a while, then Nia led them down a sloped path that brought them into a small grotto. They took a moment to refresh themselves with spring water, then walked into the plains themselves. 

They looked even bigger than they had from above. The sheer size of this Titan was mindboggling. None of the Titans that made up the Leftherian archipelago were that big! Rex felt like he could walk forever and still not reach the end.

“Stop gawking. You never see a proper Titan before?“

Rex snapped out of it. “No, I guess not. I've only ever been to Leftheria and the Goldmouth.“ He followed Nia and Pyra, who were waiting for him a little bit ahead. 

“Well, you're about to see a lot more of it than you probably wanted.“

Nia was right. The path they took was ripe with incredible sights, from the gigantic trees twisting into each other to the large lake they passed. What would it be like swimming in that? He'd only ever been in the Cloud Sea. Maybe he could try that later, after they'd reached the city. 

Come to think of it, what were they going to do then? Eh, they'd figure something out. 

“Rex...“ Pyra had fallen behind Nia a little bit. “I'm… really sorry. If it hadn't been for me, you and Azurda wouldn't have...“

“None of that was your fault! Besides, you saved my life. You, Nia and Gramps...“ What had he even done on that ship? First Pyra, then Nia and Gramps, they'd all saved him and what had he accomplished? Nothing, except for getting Gramps killed. He hadn't been able to do anything about Malos at all.

He couldn't let anything like that happen ever again.

“Can you… teach me? I've seen you fight back there and you're so much better than me. I want to learn, so that next time, nobody needs to save me.“

Pyra looked at him with surprise, then nodded. “Of course! We can practice when we reach Torigoth. Right now I think we should—“

“RUN!“

They both looked up when Nia screamed, and then behind themselves when they saw where she was pointing. A huge ape creature loomed behind them.

“Wha… what is that thing?“ Rex took a step back. Then another. Then he turned around and broke into a full run. Pyra was already ahead of him. 

“It's Rotbart!“ Nia called back. “He doesn't normally come down this far!“

Dromarch swerved to avoid a swinging fist. How were they ever going to outrun this thing? Not even Dromarch was fast enough!

“Everyone, follow me! And get ready to jump!“

Then the cliffside approached and they leapt into the air, screaming, and a moment later hit the water's surface below. 

People hadn't been lying. It really wasn't like the Cloud Sea. 

Rex swam back up to the surface. Wow, what a beautiful lake. The grandarbor roots reached into the pristine azure water. Tiny islands were scattered across the lake, connected by bridges. In the distance children played on the shore. 

Nia's head broke through the surface, a scowl on her face. Dromarch paddled up to her and she climbed back onto him. “Stupid Rotbart. He just had to show up today, didn't he?“

They made their way to a nearby island, where Pyra started a fire for them to dry their clothes at, with a single wave of her hand. Rex hadn't known Blades could use their powers like that. The stories only ever depicted them in battles. 

“I could have lived without that, but the good news is we've almost made it. We can climb up to Torigoth from here.“ Nia motioned towards the shore where the children had been. A slope led up from the lake to the plains.

She was awfully blasé about it. “Does that happen often?“ Rex asked. Leftheria had its fair share of dangerous monsters, but at least they had the decency to stay away from settlements!

“Oh, sometimes. Rotbart is hard to track. He comes and goes as he wants, you just have to hope you don't run into him.“ Nia shook the water off her and inched closer to the fire. “Uuh, so cold. Say, what do you plan to do from here on out?“

“I want to go to Elysium.“ Pyra lifted a hand to her core crystal. 

Nia laughed, then stopped when neither of them showed any amusement. “Elysium? Are you telling me that's not a fairy tale?“

Pyra shook her head. “It's real. I remember it.“

“You're making not asking about your story awfully hard, Pyra. But I won't be travelling with you much longer anyway, unlike Rex. Are you sure you're okay with following her even though you don't know anything about her?“ Nia looked at Rex. 

Rex shrugged. “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but I promised. It's salvager rule seven, see? Only a novice doesn't keep a promise. And I know Pyra's a good person, even if I don't know all the details.“ 

“What, really? You're not a novice? At your age?“ Nia grinned. 

“Says the Driver who's my age! Don't you have to go to Driver school or something?“

The sun had started setting and light was fading quickly. The World Tree in the distance stood out all the more for it with its glowing leaves. They'd have to go there to get to Elysium, wouldn't they?

When they'd dried off, Nia led the way once again, guiding them across bridges and islands until they stepped onto the shore. From there on it was only a matter of walking up the slope, and then they found themselves just outside of Torigoth. 

“Woah, this is massive...“ Rex hadn't truly realised how much space this city took up from the distance. He'd been startled by the Goldmouth the first time he'd set foot there, but this was on a whole other level. 

“I've seen bigger.“ Nia paused. “Well, this is where we part ways. Just follow the main road and you'll find an inn.“

“What, you're not coming? I thought...“

Nia's hands tightened in Dromarch's mane. “It's best for me to stay out of Torigoth. Trust me.“

“But...“

Dromarch cleared his throat. “My lady and I have had… problems, in the past. It's entirely possible that we wouldn't be received warmly here. Please don't trouble yourselves. We'll find a place to stay.“

Rex wanted to protest, but Pyra placed a hand on his arm. “It's their decision. If they think this is the best way, then we should respect that.“

“I suppose so...“ It didn't feel right, but he couldn't force them to stay. In the end, they were strangers. He shouldn't have expected them to stick around in the first place. 

Nia shifted on Dromarch's back. “Good luck on your journey, then. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime.“

Dromarch bowed his head and trotted off. 

Rex looked after them for a moment, then turned around and followed Pyra into the city. Lanterns illuminated the arch that marked the entrance. A Gormotti woman was lighting more of them down the street. For such a large place, the atmosphere was surprisingly homely. 

They didn't come far before a crowd blocked their way.

“Isn't there anyone here who's pure of heart and brave enough to win a Blade's favour? Nobody at all?“

Rex tiptoed, trying to see what was going on, but the people in front of him were too tall. Pyra tapped him on the shoulder and led him to the side where there weren't as many onlookers and he could look through the gaps between them. 

An Ardainian soldier stood in the plaza. Behind him, on a table, lay a single core crystal. The soft blue glow it emitted was easily visible, dark as it was now. 

“Your strong heart today will help build a strong Mor Ardain tomorrow, people of Gormott! Don't you think you can take it?“

“What are they doing?“ Rex asked. 

A man in front of him turned around. “They're recruiting new Drivers. Guess all their own candidates failed.“

“Oh… so they're...“

The man nodded. “Yep, they're all dead now, or as good as. Gotta be, if they're trying to talk random people into it. Wonder if anyone's gonna be stupid enough to try… But then you were stupid enough too, weren't you?“ He gave Pyra a pointed look and walked away. 

Rex looked after the man. Stupid? Sure, trying to resonate with a Blade was dangerous, but it wasn't _stupid_. Becoming a Driver was great! It was the union of a noble soul with a sacred being. That was how the preachers put it. 

But then Malos had resonated with a Blade, and he certainly didn't have a pure heart or a noble soul. None of that matched what he'd heard. He didn't know what to think about that. 

A murmur went through the crowd. A young man had pushed through and was now approaching the table. The soldier clapped him on the shoulder. “Here's a brave one! Good luck!“

The recruit reached out and grabbed the crystal. For a moment nothing happened, then it erupted into light. It spread out until it completely engulfed him. Rex had to look away from the brightness… and he didn't want to watch him die, if he didn't make it. 

“No, look… he's fine,“ Pyra said. She was right. The light slowly died down and the man was still standing, now holding a large axe that he stared at in wonder. In front of him stood a Blade. Her armour reflected the lantern flames. The red glow clashed with the pink crystals jutting out of it. Her blue eyes were trained on her new Driver.

“I'm a… I'm a Driver!“ His voice was full of surprise and amazement. 

The crowd didn't seem to share his mood. Some of them were shaking their heads, and Rex heard at least one person voice their displeasure under their breath. Something about Blades being bad news. First the one who'd explained what was happening, now this. What was up with these people? 

“Shall we go to the inn now?“ Pyra asked. 

“Yes, good idea. I could use some sleep. It's this way, right?“ Nia had said to follow the main road, and the one in front of them was certainly the biggest one. 

On the way they passed by a billboard. Glancing over it, Rex noticed an offer for old furniture, someone wanting a housekeeper, a reward for information about a criminal… 

Wait. That was Nia on that poster. 

Pyra barely avoided running into him when he stopped. She followed his line of sight and her eyes widened. 

“So that's why...“ Her voice trailed off.

Rex examined the poster. “Doesn't say what she did here.“ A hefty reward for information though… just who was Nia, and what did they want her for?

 

It was a good thing that neither Dromarch nor Nia needed more than the moonlight to get by, because that was all they had now. 

Same old, same old, Nia thought. It was just her and Dromarch again. She'd known it wouldn't last, that she couldn't _allow_ it to last, but she found herself missing Rex and Pyra nonetheless. Stupid. She hadn't even known them very long. 

She sighed and turned her attention back to the bridge Dromarch was crossing. “You doing okay?“

“Yes, my Lady. I can keep going.“

Their best bet was to head for one of the smaller villages around the lake and hope news hadn't spread that far. They were all uncomfortably close to Torigoth, but trekking back across the plains was out of the question. And then… Nia wasn't sure. They had to get out of Gormott, but how? They'd gotten lucky once, but she didn't think they'd be able to sneak all the way through Torigoth to stow away on another ship. Dromarch was too eyecatching. 

If only Rex's Gramps hadn't died. They would have given them a ride, and it would have spared her from seeing that look on Rex's face. 

Footsteps behind her. Dromarch turned around and Nia found herself faced with a troop of Ardainian soldiers. 

“A white beast-type Blade and a Gormotti Driver. You're the fugitive they told us about!“

Out of all the people to run into it just had to be a patrol! Nia cursed when she noticed the Blade accompanying one of them. Trust her luck that they'd have a Driver with them. 

She couldn't take all of them on at once, but Dromarch could outrun anything on two legs. “Let's go!“

But before they could get far, something hit them from behind and latched on tightly. Dromarch stumbled and fell, and when Nia tried to slice through the net restraining them, she couldn't channel ether into her weapons. 

One of the soldiers bent over her. His helmet revealed nothing of his face, but the smugness he was radiating was palpable. 

“This is an ether net! Cutting edge technology, straight out of Alba Cavanich. Now behave while we take you back to the city. You'll get what's coming for you, thief!“

Thief? _That_ was the cover story they'd given? What was she supposed to have stolen that warranted something like this? She'd have the chance to ask soon, Nia thought. 

She'd always known her freedom wouldn't last long. 

 

“This won't tell us anything else,“ Rex said. “If we want to know more we'll have to ask around.“

It had to be some sort of misunderstanding. There was no way Nia had done something bad enough to warrant that kind of attention. Admittedly, he hadn't known her for very long, but he'd seen enough to tell she wasn't a bad person. Maybe they could find something to clear her name, somehow. 

They turned away from the billboard and continued following the main road. With the recruitment drive over, the normal hustle and bustle of the city had resumed. Rex was surprised to find that it was similar to the Goldmouth. He'd expected Torigoth's sheer size to make a difference, but apparently not. He saw the same bartering at shops, the same meeting-at-corners chatting… Some things never changed, it seemed.

“I think that's the inn, over there.“ Pyra pointed to a building next to a fountain. They started making their way over to it when a hand clamped down on her shoulder and she was spun around. 

Two soldiers loomed over them, one of them holding on to Pyra. 

“An emerald core crystal...“ 

“Hey, what do you think you're—“ The other soldier knocked Rex aside when he tried to intervene. “What the hell?“

“Our job, that's what we're doing! And that means you're coming with us now.“ The soldier's grip tightened when Pyra tried pulling away. 

Rex tried to push past the soldier to help her, but he wouldn't budge. “Leave her alone! She didn't do anything wrong!“

The soldier laughed. “What are _you_ going to do about it, kid? You're half my size and scrawny to boot.“ 

Damn it, not again! He wasn't strong enough to help Pyra like this, but what else could he do? He couldn't just pull out a sword in the middle of town! He looked around, trying to find something, someone who could help, but the people averted their eyes and hurried on. 

The second soldier tried to drag Pyra off. She resisted, trying to squirm out of his grasp, and then there was a high pitched whistling sound and the entire area filled with smoke. Rex heard a yelp and Pyra appeared by his side, unharmed. Thank the Architect. 

Someone tapped Rex on the leg. “This way!“

They blindly followed the voice. Rex heard a door open and whoever had saved them ushered them inside a building. The smoke hadn't spread inside and he could see bare wooden walls and floors. Outside, the soldiers were yelling at each other, trying to figure out what happened. 

“Where'd that come from?“

“How am I supposed to know?! More importantly, where did they go? He'll have our heads if we report back to him like this!“

Who were they talking about? Rex filed the question away for later. For now he turned around and looked for their saviour. He didn't find him until he glanced down. A light brown Nopon stood in front of him, bouncing ever so slightly. 

“You saved us! Thanks, uh...“ 

“Name is Tora!“ Tora waved his wings.

“It's so nice to meet you, Tora.“ Pyra smiled. “Thanks for helping us out.“

“No problem, no problem!“ The wrench attached to his belt nearly slipped out because of his bobbing. Tora caught it at the last second and reattached it. “Tora not like those big bully soldiers. When Tora see them bully friends, Tora decide to teach them lesson! Worked well, yes?“

“Yeah! You really saved our butts there. I'm Rex, and this is Pyra. Nice to meet you!“

“Good to meeting! Of course, Rex-Rex could have overpowered bullies, but Tora think it best not to pick fight with soldiers. Not when biggest bully is in Torigoth.“ Tora led them through the corridor towards a door. 

“Er… my name is just Rex. Not Rex-Rex.“ Nopon could talk a little oddly sometimes. Rex had met enough of them on the Goldmouth to know that. He didn't mind; they were, for the most part, as friendly as they were enthusiastic. He still didn't particularly want to be called Rex-Rex, though...

Tora hopped off the stairs. “Is title of honour in Noponspeak! Rex-Rex is awesome Driver, so Rex-Rex should have awesome title too.“

“Awesome Driver? I...“ Was he really? He'd been a Driver for all of one day, and he hadn't accomplished much of anything in that time. The only reason Pyra had become his Blade was that he'd been in the right spot at the right time. Or maybe the wrong spot at the wrong time. Even calling himself a Driver felt hypocritical. 

The silence stretched uncomfortably, until Pyra spoke up. “Who's this biggest bully you mentioned?“ 

Tora pulled a key out of his pocket and jumped up to insert it into the keyhole. “Friends see big ship docked on other side of town? Tora hear soldiers talk about Special Inquisitor coming to visit. That big strong bully from Mor Ardain.“

“And even the normal soldiers are after us already. This is really bad timing. What did they want from us anyway?“ Neither of them had done anything to warrant attention. They'd been walking down the road like everyone else. 

“They mentioned my core crystal.“ Pyra's hand was covering it. “It's… it looks different from normal Blades.“

Oh yeah. Normal core crystals were blue, but hers was green. He hadn't known they could have different colors. Maybe it was an Aegis thing? Rex looked down on the green cross on his chest. He'd never heard of something like that happening either. What exactly was an Aegis, anyway?

“Do you think they noticed and were curious? Or are they after you too?“ he asked. 

Pyra's shoulders fell. “I—I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm only putting you into more danger.“

“What? No!“ Rex stopped and turned to her. “I'd be dead without you, remember? So even if everyone's after you I'm still safer than I would be without you!“

“Flaw detected in logic.“

A girl stood in the doorway Tora had opened. A robot girl. Made of metal. With a red cape and a white flower attached to it. 

Rex and Pyra looked at each other, then back to the girl. 

“This Poppi!“ Tora bounced up and down next to her. Small as she was, she still stood taller than him. “Is artificial Blade!“

“Artificial…? Tora, you've got some explaining to do.“

Tora led them inside. Fortunately his home was built to human size, but it still felt cramped. The Nopon seemed to enjoy collecting things. Rex spotted a miniature of the Gormotti Titan, a pile of wooden crates and some sort of colourful gaming machine, not to mention the various tools scattered around the place. They settled down at a table after Tora put away the stacks of paper on it. 

“Tora always wanted to be Driver, but could not resonate with crystal. Tora had nosebleed for three days when try! Tora was lucky not to _die_! So Tora decide to construct artificial Blade instead. Took long-long time, but finally finished! Tora finally Driver now!“ Tora's wings had been waving increasingly fast while he spoke. By the end they were a beige blur surrounding his beaming face. 

“That's incredible! I had no idea that was possible. Did you do it all by yourself?“ Rex couldn't even imagine the craftsmanship that had gone into constructing Poppi. The Maelstrom, a marvel of engineering? That was nothing compared to this! And Tora called him amazing?

Poppi raised her hand. “Masterpon use plans from Grampypon and Dadapon, but actual construction work was all Masterpon.“ 

“Was Daddypon's and Grampypon's dream! But Grampypon die and Tora still not know where Daddypon go. So Tora finished Blade to fulfill dream! Then Dadapon will hear about success and come home, yes?“

To think he'd put in all that effort just to fulfill his Grampyp—grandpa's dream. What had Gramps' dream been? Rex couldn't remember talking to him about that. There were so many things he should have asked before it was too late. 

Maybe he could make it up to his successor, if he resonated with his core crystal. 

“...and then finally raise enough money to buy last part!“

Oh. He probably should have listened to that. Hopefully nobody had noticed him spacing out. He didn't want to tell them what he'd been thinking about. 

“Well, I'm glad to meet you, Poppi.“ Pyra smiled at her. 

“Poppi glad too!“

“How about I make us something to eat? It's the least I can do after what you've done for us.“ Pyra stood up and examined the kitchen. It was built to human size as well, raising the question how Tora managed to feed himself. 

Now that she mentioned it, Rex noticed how hungry he was. How long had it been since his last meal? Since before hauling up the ancient ship. Wow, how had he made it through the plains? “I didn't know you could cook, Pyra.“

“Anything that uses fire, I can make. Frying, grilling, you name it.“ A small flame appeared on top of her hand. “Though if you want ice cream, you'll have to find someone else.“

“You need some help?“ Pyra had to be exhausted too. He couldn't just let her do all the work. 

“That would be great!“

As they went to work, in a warm house and a well-stocked kitchen, Rex couldn't help but think about Nia. Hopefully she'd found a place to stay at.

 

The soldiers dragged her into an office, still wrapped in the net. Waiting for her was Mòrag Ladair, Special Inquisitor of Mor Ardain, and her Blade Brighid. People Nia had hoped she'd never have to see again. But when did things ever go the way she wanted?

The wanted poster they'd put out lay on the desk. She wouldn't have thought they'd offered a reward this substantial. They really didn't want to let go of her, did they?

“I'm surprised you returned to Torigoth. Did you not realise we'd put a warrant on your head?“ Mòrag folded her hands in front of her. As usual, she seemed far less wary of being alone with her than the rest of her people. Nia had always wondered why. 

“Wasn't exactly _my_ choice.“ The plan had been to be in Uraya at this point, safe from Ardainian meddling. The plan hadn't been very successful. If only she'd stowed away on a different ship she could have avoided this situation. She should have just stayed on the Maelstrom and gone back with the salvagers. 

Mòrag smiled. Nia didn't believe for one second that it was sincere. “I can imagine. I heard a thing or two about you, and your travel companions.“

“Rex and Pyra? How—“

“That was easy.“ Mòrag stood up from her desk and crossed her hands behind her back, her voice laced with satisfaction. 

Damn it, and damn her loose mouth! The last thing they needed was Mòrag Ladair's attention. The Special Inquisitor's interest was the Empire's interest, and you did not want the Empire to be interested in you. 

“So what now? Are you going to ship me back to Alba Cavanich, where I belong?“ 

That was all they ever said. _This is where your kind belongs_ , and _you deserve nothing better_ , and _filthy abomination_. Maybe Mòrag had never said anything like that herself, but she sure as hell hadn't done much to stop everyone else from talking about her like a dangerous animal. 

Mòrag regarded her silently for a moment. “You may recall that I objected to your treatment, and was overruled by the senate.“

Fat load of good that had done her. 

“For the time being—“

The door slammed open and a man best described as garish sauntered inside, then theatrically swept his arm out. “Your Grace! You needn't have bothered questioning this fleabitten runaway yourself. I—“

“Dughall. I don't remember requesting your assistance.“ The distaste in her voice was obvious. Mòrag didn't seem to like this man very much. 

“B-but Your Grace! It's beneath your station to deal with her kind.“ 

Nia found herself on the receiving end of an accusing index finger. His antics would have been amusing if it wasn't her head on the line. “What, you told him the truth? I thought I was a thief. Speaking of, what am I supposed to have stolen anyway? Must have been something important if you're using it to justify that kind of reward.“ 

Dughall glared at her and opened his mouth, but Mòrag cut him off. “Dughall is this province's consul. Keeping him in the dark was not an option.“

Consul? This guy? His entire demeanor screamed incompetence. Who'd appointed him? And _when_ had they appointed him? He hadn't been consul before she'd left Gormott. 

“Be that as it may! Your Grace, please permit me to take over. My men will make her confess how she escaped and then arrange a transport back to the capital.“ Dughall flailed about. Maybe that was meant to impress Mòrag. 

“You will do no such thing, Consul.“

Dughall froze.

Mòrag continued without waiting for a reply. “I did not come all this way for a mere fugitive, no matter how important. I'm here for the Aegis, and this girl will be most useful in capturing her.“ 

So she was after Pyra too. And Nia had just served their names to her on a silver platter. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

“The _Aegis_?“ Dughall recoiled in obviously faked surprise. The man was a terrible actor. “The Aegis is _here_ , in Gormott? Why, I had no _idea_ —“

“Save it, Consul. I have it on good authority that you instructed your soldiers to be on the lookout for her.“ Dughall was a smidgen taller than Mòrag, even with her hat included, but somehow she still managed to look down on him. 

Nia had to talk her way out of this somehow, at least until Rex and Pyra managed to leave Gormott. Even if she was going back to Alba Cavanich, she wasn't going to drag them into this mess. 

“You want to use me as bait? As if that's going to work. They barely even know me. Why would they risk their lives for me?“

Mòrag said nothing, only smiled. Damn that woman. There was no fooling her, was there?

“Dughall. I have orders for your men...“


	3. Thieves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing this I realised that Dughall's title is consul, not governor. It has been fixed. 
> 
> I would also like to point out that I asked a bunch of people I know to vote on a rare Blade they wanted to get a cameo and Ursula was by far the most popular choice, so clearly I had no choice in the matter. 
> 
> Special thanks to Cal and Lonetaku as always, and also to Zackie for helping me out when my brain didn't want to English again.

The campfire was nice and toasty, and roast Armu spread its delicious aroma all over the campsite. Just the right thing after a workday. Eslan stretched. They hadn't gotten into a fight today, but walking distances this long took a toll on even her, practiced as she was. 

“This's about ready. Just a little bit more and we can dig in.“ 

“'bout time, I'm starving here!“

Eslan smiled at their banter. She never participated, but it was relaxing to hear them exchange quips. One of the perks of mercenary life was the close bonds she could form with her partners, and everyone else at the Garfont mercenaries. 

Including her newest partner, she thought and smiled at her Blade. Ursula was a new addition to the team, after Eslan had finally mustered up the courage to try and resonate with a core crystal. She was a little shy around people and prone to hiding behind Beary, but she was coming around and her healing abilities were useful in battle. Besides, she was just so nice! Eslan couldn't think of a better Blade to have. In time, they'd get better and better at syncing up, even if they were slow right now.

“Hey, who're you?“

One of the others was looking over her head. She turned around and saw a beautiful woman with long, lush black hair walking up to their camp. Her gaze wandered from one to another, until it finally settled on Ursula. 

“A Driver, huh?“ 

Her tone was abrasive to the point of rudeness. Was she one of those anti-Blade nutters? Well that just wouldn't do. How could anyone hate cute little Ursula? 

“Yep! I'm Eslan and this is Ursula, my Blade. Nice to meet you.“ Eslan held out her hand. The other woman didn't take it. 

“I'll be taking Ursula, then.“

She raised her hand. A bright light shone through her fingers and materialised into a bardiche, longer than she was tall. At the same time, a crystal tainted with red flared up on her chest. 

A Flesh Eater. 

Eslan jumped up and pulled out her knuckle claws. The link between her and Ursula began flickering into existence, but the woman was already moving. Faster, faster, fas—

Empty of ether as they were, the knuckle claws stood no chance of stopping the woman. The bardiche burrowed itself into her chest and was wrenched out again almost immediately. Eslan toppled forward and crashed to the ground. Blood gushed out of her chest and stained not only the ground but also her clothes. It would take forever to clean that up. 

Ursula fell to her knees next to her. She was talking, but Eslan couldn't make out what she was saying. There was an odd blue glow surrounding her. What was that again? It seemed like she should know. 

Her eyelids fluttered shut and she saw no more.

 

~

 

“Where do we go from here?“ Rex asked. 

They'd spent the night at Tora's. There hadn't been any human-sized beds, but they'd had enough blankets to make themselves comfortable, and it had been free, unlike staying at the inn. He hoped Nia had found a place like this too. 

He also hoped Nia had an idea of what to do next, because he certainly didn't.

“We'll need a ship to get to the World Tree. But...“ Pyra looked down at herself. “Everyone is going to recognise me, aren't they? That won't make it any easier.“

That was true. Even if nobody recognised her as the Aegis she was eyecatching enough, with the glow and the flaming red hair and the _(no, don't look that way)_. They didn't need more attention than they already had, not if everyone and their Phonexes were out to capture her for some reason. 

“Tora have solution!“ Tora left the room and came back with a red cloak draped over his wing. It looked like it was meant for a Gormotti, if the cat ears attached to the hood were anything to go by. “If Pyra wearing this, nobody see glowy-glowy bits.“

“Oh! That might actually work.“ Pyra took the cloak and pulled it over her head. “How do I look?“

“Uh...“ The honest answer to that was 'adorable'. The hood framed her face perfectly, with only a few strands of hair peeking out. “Um. It hides the crystal!“

“Rex-Rex get one too.“ Tora handed him a scarf in the same shade of red as the cloak. 

Oh yeah. Rex had a core crystal too now, sort of. If Pyra wasn't so obviously a Blade maybe people would mistake _him_ for the Aegis. It was the same shade of emerald green as Pyra's, after all. Or maybe there would be rumous of two Aegises…

The scarf was a little warm for the weather and the colour clashed with his outfit, but when he looked down at himself he saw no trace of green on his chest. He didn't mind looking funny if it kept them out of trouble. 

Why exactly did Tora have human clothes, though? And come to think of it… didn't that cloak look a bit too short for Pyra? Not that it didn't look good on her, but cloaks were supposed to cover more than just the upper body, weren't they? 

“Probability of recognition lowered significantly,“ Poppi said.

“Poppi! This your first time outside. Ready?“ Tora seemed to be checking the screws holding Poppi's limbs together. 

Poppi saluted. “Yes, Masterpon!“

“What do you mean, first time outside?“ Rex turned around to the two. Tora had said she was only a week old, but wouldn't going outside be the first thing to do? Had she been inside the entire time? 

“Needed more adjustments. Was hard for Poppi to walk. But now perfect time for test run!“ Tora said. 

Oh. That made sense.

Once outside hardly anyone paid any attention to Pyra. The plan worked, but Rex couldn't help but wonder if it had even been necessary with Poppi accompanying them. She drew a great deal of attention with her unusual looks. Blades could take all sorts of forms, but he'd never heard of a mechanical one before. Hopefully bringing her along wouldn't cause more trouble. The stares were uncomfortable. 

The non-hidden door to Tora's house was conveniently located near the docks. Torigoth, it seemed, was split into two parts on both sides of a chasm where the grandarbor roots didn't reach. The sides were connected by a system of bridges, and below them smaller ships were docked at the lowest level. 

There was also the Titan battleship on the other end of the town, where Tora said the Ardainian base was, but they couldn't exactly take that one. 

As they walked down a flight of stairs, Rex realised that all of his belongings had been on… that all of his belongings were gone now, including his funds and salvaged items he'd been meaning to sell. “Uh, Pyra, I don't have any money. I could salvage for more, but that would take time...“

“Oh, no worries.“ Pyra reached below her hood and pulled out one of her earrings. It was the same vivid shade of green as her core crystal. “This is a natural crystal. It should fetch around 60,000. That's enough, right? It's been so long, I don't know how much things cost now...“ 

How much they cost _now_? Gramps did mention that things used to be cheaper, but the difference couldn't be that big, right? But more importantly, 60,000? For a single earring? Natural crystals were rare, but he hadn't known they went for that much! 

“I can't let you sell that, Pyra. We're going to find another way.“

“No, it's fine, it's not—“

A shopping bag smacked into Poppi, who didn't budge. The man carrying it turned around. “I'm so sorry, I didn't see y—oh...“ His expression grew cold. “Nevermind.“

Poppi seemed unfazed, staring up at him curiously. “Name is Poppi. This is Driverpon Tora. Good to meeting.“ 

Tora bounced softly beside her, a pleased look on his face. Or at least Rex thought it was pleased. It was hard to tell with Nopons. 

“Oh, I know _you_ ,“ the man said. “You're that weird mechanic Nopon. Found yourself a Blade, eh? Thought you'd have more sense than that, though I s'pose it's not surprising with the way you were always fawning about Drivers coming through...“

“Hey, what's the big idea? Leave them alone!“ Rex stepped between the three. Did everyone in this town bully people who hadn't done anything? What was _wrong_ with these people? 

“The big idea is that she's a sodding Blade, and one I've never seen here before. Like we need even more of them around.“ The man's voice was thick with contempt. 

“Why are you like this? What problem do you have with Blades?“ This was starting to get on his nerves. He didn't worship Blades either, but there was no reason to be this disrespectful!

“Pah. You're too young to understand what Blades really are like. Tell me, how many people do you think this one's killed while looking like a little girl?“

The man's screaming had started attracting a crowd. Some of them muttered in agreement. Some others shuffled their feet and looked down, but nobody said anything. A mother averted her eyes and pulled her children away. 

Poppi raised her hand. “Answer is zero. Poppi never kill anyone.“ 

“Shut up! Nobody asked you! What are you, kid, fifteen? Sixteen? You're not nearly old enough to remember when they took over.“

A bystander grabbed his arm. “You can't talk like this, Siorge...“

“I can and I will!“ Spittle flew from his mouth as he ripped his arm free. “Boy, you haven't seen what it was like. Do you know what happens when you use Blades against normal humans? They didn't even need to bring more than a small handful to tear through our defenses like nothing. All because of those cursed beings! So I'll tell you what my big idea is. It's that these things bring nothing but misfortune!“

“What? You can't be serious!“ Rex had learned firsthand that Blades were good at taking out humans, yes, but you couldn't judge all Blades by that! Besides, didn't Blades inherit their Driver's will? Even if they did bad things, didn't that make it the Driver's fault? 

“Pyra, back me up.“ She was a Blade herself. She knew Blades weren't evil, and she could probably argue it better than he could. 

But when he looked over to her, her hand lay where her core crystal was under her cloak. She didn't meet his eyes. “I...“ 

What? She couldn't possibly agree with this man. Why wasn't she telling him off?

“See? Even your girlfriend agrees. You'll learn too, kid. Until then, keep your head down and let those freaks duke it out among themselves. Like the Special Inquisitor capturing that Driver with the white beast type Blade. Maybe they'll off each other, wouldn't that be great?“ Siorge cackled. 

Wait. White beast type? There couldn't be another one of those in the area, right? It had to be Nia and Dromarch. Oh no. They shouldn't have split up. If he and Pyra had been there, they would have been able to help, somehow!

“What'd they do to them? Where are they?“ 

There was a mutter in the crowd at his outburst. Rex didn't care. He couldn't just leave them to their fate, especially not after all they'd done for him. 

“Why do you care, huh? Isn't it enough to be friends with that?“ He pointed at Poppi. “Do you have to mingle with the openly criminal ones too?“

Rex felt his shoulders tense. “Nia's not a criminal! I don't care what they say, I know she's a good person!“ 

“Oh yeah?“ Siorge grinned. “Too bad then. The proclamation just went around. She'll be executed and that Blade of hers returned to Mor Ardain. Stealing a core crystal's a bad idea, eh?“

Rex's eyes widened. Executed? No way! Whatever reasons she had for stealing a core crystal, they weren't enough to warrant killing her! “Where is she?“

“And why do you want to know so badly, eh?“ A soldier pushed his way through the crowd, which now started thinning rapidly. Even Siorge backed off and hurried away. 

“Uh oh...“ This was bad. After the fight they'd had with the soldiers earlier, getting in trouble with them again was probably not a good idea. But with the people around them leaving this time he'd defend himself and Pyra. And if they wanted to save Nia, there was no avoiding another confrontation anyway.

The soldier stared down on him, arms crossed. His voice sounded muffled from below the helmet. “Care to tell me why you're so interested in a wanted criminal, boy?“

“Big meanie stop bullying Rex-Rex!“ Tora's wings waved wildly. “Poppi?“

“Wait, Tora—“

Poppi took a step forward, a determined look on her face.

The few onlookers that hadn't left yet disappeared all at once, and the soldier looked like he wanted to join them. He lifted his gun, but Poppi simply reached up and yanked it out of his hands. 

“No shooting! You tell Rex and Pyra where friend is now.“ The gun went flying down into the Cloud Sea. The soldier looked like he wanted to join it, too. He backed away until he hit the railing, and cowered when he realised there was nowhere else to go. 

“Th-the Titan battleship. Starboard side. Cells. Third on the left. Don't hurt me!“ 

“See? That not so hard.“ Poppi nodded and stepped back. “Rex, we can go save friend now.“

“I suppose that's one way of finding out...“ Rex scratched his head. “Is that really okay, though? You'll get in trouble because of us.“ For the second time, too. He really had to find a way to repay him for all his help. 

“Is fine, no worry! Let's go help friend.“

They left the soldier cowering in his corner and hurried up the closest flight of stairs. Pyra took a moment to follow them, and her hand was still clamped over her chest. Was she still thinking about what Siorge had said? Why hadn't she said anything to him? But questions would have to wait until later. 

“Battleship is docked at big bully base. Will need way to get inside.“ Tora or Poppi?

“A full frontal attack?“ Rex

“Rex, that's too—“ Pyra cut off when a gunshot cracked and the wooden step in front of her splintered, followed by another shot, then a third.

“No choice!“ Rex yelled as he dove into cover. “We just have to rush in and get Nia out of there!“ But how? A group of soldiers was lined up ready to shoot, and there wasn't enough cover on the way to the Ardainian base to make it. They'd be riddled with holes before they'd even get close.

Pyra bit her lip. “Alright. I can shield you from the shots, at least for a little while. If we hurry we can make it to the ship.“

“It's a plan then.“ Maybe it wasn't the best plan, but it was all they had. 

“Now!“

They rushed out of cover. Pyra placed herself between Rex and the soldiers, and their shots bounced off her shield harmlessly. Out of the corner of his eye Rex saw Poppi doing the same for Tora. 

The base came in sight. The soldiers inside scrambled for their weapons, but were too slow to stop them from reaching the ship's gangway. Once they were inside, Pyra turned around and lifted a hand. A wall of flame rose up just outside and blocked the entrance. 

“That should buy us some time!“

Rex could make out the soldiers running around behind the flames before he looked away to shield his face from the heat. Pyra's fire packed a punch, but it wouldn't hold them up forever. They had to find Nia before they got cornered.

“Soldier said starboard side. Is this way!“ Poppi pointed at a door leading further inside the ship. 

“How do you know that?“ Rex asked as he followed her. This had to be her first time on the ship too, right? Even if he knew which side was starboard side, he still didn't know how to get around this place. 

“Tora uploaded plans of different battleships into Poppi's database. This one too!“ Tora bounced after Poppi, sounding pleased with himself. 

“What are we waiting for, then? Let's find Nia!“

 

~

 

The room was smaller and more sparse than the one she'd lived in in Alba Cavanich. That one hadn't looked like a cell quite as much either, or at least it had had more than a bed. Either way, the end result was the same: She was back to being a prisoner. And right after Mòrag had said she'd opposed treating her like a one. Liar. 

Nia sighed and inched closer to Dromarch. At least with him around she wouldn't be cold. 

She'd scrutinised the room to find any weaknesses, but the ether drain was airtight. Neither she nor Dromarch could channel any ether, and the door was far too sturdy to break through on raw strength. You could say whatever you wanted about the Ardainians, but they knew how to build Blade containment cells. 

Unfortunately for her. The structural weakness that had allowed her to escape back in Mor Ardain would be patched by now. She wouldn't be able to get out that way again, and it was doubtful whether she'd be able to trick them. That hadn't worked the first time either. 

Hopefully Pyra and Rex had been able to leave Gormott, at least. Even if they were hunting a fairytale, they were good people. They didn't deserve to be pulled into Mòrag's machinations. 

A low hissing sound made her ears perk up. That was coming from the door. She turned around and saw the metal glowing in a dark red, then a brighter red, then an orange and then—

“My lady, get down!“

Dromarch tackled her to the ground and a beam of fire roared above their heads a moment later. Nia thought she could smell burnt hair.

“Um… I didn't hurt anyone, did I?“

“Everyone check your eyebrows.“

Nia wheeled around. Rex and Pyra stood in front of the hole burned into the door. Pyra scratched the back of her head, visibly embarrassed and clad in a red cloak for some reason. A Nopon and… was that a Blade? The ether lines were red rather than blue, but she didn't know what else she could be. 

Rex extended a hand through the hole. “Nia, are you—“

“You shouldn't have come. This is a trap!“ And they'd fallen right into it. Trust that goody two shoes not to see through it. 

“What do you mean?“ Rex asked as he helped her through the hole without touching the edges. Even so the heat was oppressive from up close. 

“They're after you, not me!“ That wasn't quite true, but it was close enough. They didn't need to know her circumstances. “Mòrag is using me as bait so you'll come and rescue me. All she wants is Pyra!“

“Who's Mòrag?“ Rex asked.

“Special Inquisitor of Mor Ardain, but we don't have time to stand here and talk. I'll tell you on the way. … er, do you know the way out?“ Nia hadn't paid attention to where she was being taken. Being manhandled did that to you. 

“Come to think of it… shouldn't those soldiers be on our tails now? And we hardly saw any of them on the ship,“ Pyra said. 

“So she's evacuated this place. We need to get out now, before she finds us, or else...“ Nia had never seen Mòrag fight seriously, but if the rumours were true she didn't want to either. Not if she was going to be on the receiving end. The strongest Driver in all of Mor Ardain, with the Jewel of the Empire? No thanks!

“Let's go. You can introduce me to your new friends on the way.“

 

~

 

The hangar was deserted. Everything about it made her inner alarm bells go off. Rex's stupid boots clanged on the floor too loudly, and the fact that no soldiers came running to investigate made everything worse. 

Mòrag had to be around here somewhere. The longer it took for the trap to trigger the antsier Nia felt. What was that woman planning, drawing all her soldiers away at a time like this? 

The hangar gate flew open and Nia braced herself for the worst, but it was just Dughall who marched in. Now she really didn't know what Mòrag was trying to do. 

“Not so fast, my dear intruders!“ Dughall's voice was accompanied by the heavy steps of a massive Blade walking behind him. Nia had never seen a Blade this big before. It wouldn't have fit through a normal sized door. How did he get around? 

Dughall guffawed. “You think I'll let you escape, after you've followed my plan so perfectly? That would reflect badly on me indeed!“

“ _Your_ plan? I don't remember _you_ coming up with it. Didn't you want to ship me back to Alba Cavanich?“ She didn't care one bit about attributing the plan to the right person, but missing a chance to puncture that man's ego? Never. 

“A-anyway! I will be taking the Aegis now.“ Dughall's eyes darted back and forth between them. It took an embarrassingly long time before they settled on Pyra. “Hand her over, and the captive too while you're at it!“

“Why do you all want to capture Pyra so badly?“ Rex drew his sword and stepped in front of the others. 

“Isn't it obvious? The Aegis is the most powerful Blade in all of history, with the power to rend Alrest asunder. Only a fool would know of that power and not seek to claim it! And I am no fool. Therefore, I will claim her for myself. You cannot argue with such logic!“ Dughall's arms flailed uncontrollably. It was a miracle he didn't knock his own hat off. 

“Flaw detected in final step of logic,“ Poppi said. 

Pyra had that kind of power? It didn't take much to see that she was a powerful Blade, but the strongest in history? Was that what an Aegis was? Nia glanced at her at the same time Rex did. Her posture was tense.

There was a moment of silence as they all waited for Pyra to say something. When she didn't, Rex took a step forward. 

“You're not getting either of them. I won't let you.“

Tora and Poppi joined him. “Strange man won't hurt Rex-Rex and friends!“ 

They'd actually come to save her. Mòrag had goaded them into it, but still. They could have let her and Dromarch rot, and yet they hadn't. They'd risked breaking into the battleship just to get them out of there, even though they hardly knew anything about her, and now they stood in front of her to prevent Dughall from taking her back. 

Maybe goody two shoes weren't that bad after all.

Nia stepped forward, her weapons filling with ether as she established the link with Dromarch. “Sorry, pal, but I won't let you save me twice. Now it's my turn.“

“Very well! If you insist on resisting, I have no choice but to subdue you.“ Dughall walked backwards. Huh?

His Blade lifted his hammer and lumbered forwards. They scattered to dodge the swing. Dughall made no motion to help his Blade; all he did was cock his gun and level it at Nia. They had to finish this fast. Blade shields could only deflect so many bullets before shattering. 

“What the—are you just hiding behind your Blade?“ Rex moved out of the way of another swing. “You coward!“

“Does common sense elude you? A Blade can regenerate from any injury! Why should I put myself in danger and risk it returning to a useless core?“ 

Oh, of course he was one of those people—the kind that didn't even pretend to think of Blades as living beings. In a way they were better than the hypocrites, but at least those didn't openly mistreat their Blades. Bastard. 

“I see that look on your face, you mangy fleabag! Of course you would think we should care about Blades' feelings. Are you holding in a speech about how they feel pain too, hmm? I wonder if _you_ can feel pain?“ Dughall finally pulled the trigger.

The shot ricocheted off Dromarch's shield, narrowly missed Pyra and clanged off the wall, then flew past Mòrag Ladair and Brighid standing in the ship's entrance.

“I don't recall ordering you to kill the captive, Consul.“

With a flick of her sword, a pillar of blue flames erupted around her and blocked off the exit. The heat made everyone take a step back, even Dughall. Damn it! Even combined they might not be able to defeat both her and Brighid. 

Unless… 

“Rex-Rex! This biggest bully Tora mentioned!“

Biggest bully? That was one way to refer to her, Nia supposed. 

Dughall raised a hand to his mouth, his face blotchy from sweat. “Lady Mòrag! I didn't—clearly she wouldn't have—“

“Save it and make yourself useful. We cannot let the Aegis escape.“

The segments of her swords parted and, connected by some kind of string, formed whips of significant reach. They curled around her as she walked through the flames towards them. “I will say this once. Hand over the Aegis and I will let you walk free. I have no quarrel with you.“

Rex moved in front of Pyra, covering her. “Why do you all want her powers for yourselves? She's a living being, not some kind of weapon!“

“For myself? Hardly.“ Mòrag's steps accelerated. “The power to sunder Alrest itself… I cannot allow that to fall into the wrong hands again.“ 

“Again? What do you…?“

“You mean you didn't know? About the Titans the Aegis sank five hundred years ago, during the Aegis War? It's naught but historical fact.“

Pyra… what? Nia turned around and looked at her. Next to her Rex did the same. Pyra looked away, shoulders hunched up. 

Was Mòrag actually telling the truth? But how could someone like Pyra do something like that? She'd been nothing but kind and considerate, to the degree of risking her life to free her from jail. That didn't exactly sound like the kind of person that would destroy entire continents. 

Then again, you couldn't judge a Blade by its core crystal. That was a lesson Nia had learnt a long time ago. 

“I'll say it again then. You will never take Pyra _or_ Nia. I won't let you!“ Rex's sword flared up and he moved into battle stance. 

“Then you leave me no choice, boy.“ Mòrag's whips began gleaming in the same blue hue as her flames. 

“And don't forget me!“ Dughall said. Then there was a clonk as his Blade dropped his hammer. 

“What are you doing, you useless piece of junk?!“

A hint of embarrassment showed on Mòrag's face. 

“That's what happens when you make your Blade use their own weapon for too long, pal. They get tired. Did you seriously not know that?“ Nia resisted the urge to facepalm. Was he new to being a Driver or what? That wasn't exactly obscure knowledge. 

Next to her Rex shuffled his feet.

Dughall's Blade had tired out abnormally quickly, though. Did he have less energy, or did he just not bother trying for long? She wouldn't blame him. Being Dughall's Blade couldn't be fun. 

“Dughall, kindly move out of the way and leave this to me if you do not know how to conduct yourself as a Driver.“ At the last word, Mòrag rushed forward. Her whips whirred and Nia dodged to the side. One of them solidified again and blocked Rex's swing. As he was thrown backwards Nia flung herself at Mòrag, only to have a whip narrowly miss her face. Only a quick retreat saved her. 

“Rex-Rex! Tora have plan! Get big bully off ship!“

Out of the corner of her eye Nia saw Tora bounce out of the room, leaving his Blade behind. Get Mòrag off the ship? What would that do? Was it too much to ask that people explained their plans?

The whip flew by her head again. What were Rex and Pyra doing? She couldn't take Mòrag on her own! Were they going to help her or— 

“Nia, heads up!“

Nia turned her head, then threw herself to the side. Rex and Pyra had leapt into the air, holding on to their sword together. Ether gathered in its edge as they fell again, and when they locked swords with Mòrag…

...nothing happened. 

Mòrag didn't budge even as Pyra's flames surged right next to her head. “Is that all? The Aegis may be formidable, but her Driver's skill betrays her, it seems...“ 

She raised her other sword, still in whip form. Nia jumped to her feet, but Rex and Pyra threw themselves to the side as well. What? What was the point of that if they didn't even keep her in that place? 

“Wait, stop, what are you—“

Dughall flew past her, flailing and screaming. Mòrag raised her sword out of reflex, then wrenched it out of the way just in time to avoid cleaving him in half. The force of the collision threw her backwards, past the gangway and onto the docks. 

“Lady Mòrag!“ Brighid hurried after her. 

“Quick, close gate!“ 

Nia looked over to Poppi as she hurried towards the gate controls. Unbelievable. She was heaving Dughall's massive Blade above her head, and then threw him like she had with Dughall. How strong _was_ she, lifting him just like that?

The gate closed right in front of Mòrag's face. It wouldn't hold her up for long. Just as Pyra had burned through her cell door, Brighid would make short work of the ship gate. It was already starting to glow blue. They'd be through it soon. At least she could take a moment to catch her breath… 

The ship shuddered into motion. Nia nearly lost her footing when the floor tilted. 

“Masterpon succeed at commandeering ship,“ Poppi said. 

What?

That had been Tora's plan? Taking the entire ship to escape? How did that goofy Nopon even know how to operate a ship like this? Then again, he'd built an artificial Blade. He clearly knew what he was doing when it came to technology. 

“Did we just steal an entire Ardainian warship?“ Rex scratched his head. “Well… this wasn't exactly the kind of ship I thought we'd go with, but I'll take what I can get.“

Nia couldn't help it. The laughter bubbled out of her, an unstoppable force, and she doubled over, giggling uncontrollably.

“That's all you have to say? Oh Rex, you're something. You realise you're in deep trouble now, right? The Empire's not going to let that stand.“

Of course, they'd be after them anyway. Nia was an indispensable resource, unlike a warship no matter how big it was, and Pyra, well, she was the Aegis. Everyone would want to get their hands on a Blade that powerful. 

“Eh, we'll find a way to deal with that when we need to, right?“ 

Yeah. Maybe he was right and they really would. A day ago she'd have laughed at the idea, but she'd also have laughed at the idea that someone would come and break her out of prison. Who knew what the future would bring? 

 

~

 

Mòrag sheathed her swords, but continued staring after the ship. Unbelievable. They'd actually stolen her own ship from under her very eyes, and by throwing Dughall at her no less. She wouldn't have expected any of them to be capable of piloting a ship of this size, but the speed at which they'd maneuvered out of the port spoke otherwise. 

Behind her, Dughall blabbered about being inconsolable over what happened. She didn't grace it with a response. The man's fawning and grovelling was as unpleasant as it was unnecessary. 

Brighid stepped up to her. “That was an… interesting plan on their side.“

“Interesting is one way to describe it. If you'd told me that was going to work yesterday, I wouldn't have believed it. Throwing the consul at me to steal my own ship?“ It sounded more like a bad joke than something that had actually happened. She wasn't sure whether to feel amused or insulted. Perhaps both. 

“That last blow there… I thought it was the boy failing to measure up to the Aegis's power, but I wonder if they were trying at all. I feel slighted, almost—they were actually holding back against me in battle...“ Her reputation preceded her, and had done so for a long time. Faced with the Flamebringer, few people even considered going easy on her. Maybe she'd gotten too used to commanding that kind of respect. 

Brighid smiled. “I can tell you're interested.“ 

“Yes. Perhaps it is worth letting them roam free for a while. We'll cross paths again, and when we do we shall see.“

“You're going to let them escape? That's—“ Dughall's voice was shrill, in that obnoxious exaggerated way of his. A single glance was enough to shut him up.

“Are you questioning my authority, Consul? I've determined that the boy is capable enough to keep the Aegis out of the wrong hands for the time being. I see no need to take custody of her as of now.“

Dughall's mouth gaped open. “But what about the Flesh Eater? Surely you can't want to let the likes of her run free?“

Ah. Of course he'd complain about that. Nia could hardly be blamed for being resentful when faced with… _people_ like this. Clamping down on the verbal abuse had, unfortunately, proven difficult, if not impossible. Mòrag had meted out punishment when she'd witnessed it, but even the Special Inquisitor of Mor Ardain didn't hear everything that was said and done. 

“We are currently not engaged in open warfare and thus have no urgent need for her abilities. Mor Ardain has plenty of qualified doctors. Now, if you don't have any other complaints…?“

Besides, they wouldn't get far with that ship anyway—not with the state the engines were in. It would be interesting to see where they'd wash up after going adrift.


	4. Convictions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is simultaneously one of the most and least fun things I've ever written. I'm so very glad I'm finished with it now. 
> 
> Thanks to Lonetaku for helping me fix that trainwreck of a draft.

Rex turned the core crystal over in his hands. Its soft glow reflected off the ship's steel walls, bathing him in light blue. It had looked brighter back in the forest, when he'd held it the last time. Between everything that had happened in Gormott, he hadn't had the time to look at it since then. Was Gramps… or whoever Gramps had become conscious in there? Or were Blades only awake when someone resonated with them? 

“Are you going to do it?“

Rex looked up. Nia approached and sat down on the stairs next to him. Dromarch wasn't with her. That was the first time he'd seen her without him, wasn't it? 

“I don't know,“ he said. “I want to, but at the same time...“ 

“He'll be someone else, and you don't know if you can handle that.“

Rex nodded. Yeah, that was it. It wouldn't be Gramps, no matter how much he wished he had him back. 

“You know… I've been in the situation. Dromarch was my dad's Blade. After he died, I...“ Nia looked down at her feet. “I reawakened him. It was weird. He looked just like before, but he didn't remember me.“

“So you didn't…?“ Rex wasn't sure how to ask. That guy in Torigoth had said she'd stolen Dromarch's core crystal, but if it had been her father's, then that had to be wrong. Unless her father hadn't wanted her to have it, maybe? 

“Didn't what?“

“Er, steal his core crystal.“

“Eh?“ Nia stared at him. “That's what they told you I did? No, no, that's not what happened.“ 

Rex exhaled slowly. So she wasn't a core crystal thief after all. Even if she'd been one, she had to have had a good reason, but it was still good to hear she was innocent.

“Aren't you going to ask? Oh, I forgot who I was talking to.“ Nia laughed. “You haven't even asked Pyra about her past, have you?“ 

Rex shook his head. “She doesn't want to talk about it. And neither do you, right? So I won't pry.“ 

Nia's shoulders slumped a little as a tenseness Rex hadn't even noticed left her posture. “Listen, Rex… thank you. Not just for not asking. You saved me and Dromarch even though you didn't have to.“

“Anyone would have, right?“

As Rex said it, he remembered what Siorge had said before they'd saved Nia. 

_“Maybe they'll off each other, wouldn't that be great?“_

What if Siorge and Nia had known each other before she'd become a Driver? Would he have started hating her? And Dughall… he'd treated his Blade like garbage. It went against everything Rex had ever been taught. Fonsett was too far out of the way for preachers to visit, but even he knew that you treated Blades with respect. It was common sense. 

Would people who hated Blades so much come to a Driver's aid? 

“Hey, Nia. You know a lot of Drivers, right?“

“Some. Why do you ask?“

“Well...“ Rex looked down at the crystal. “Are many Drivers like that Dughall guy?“

“Oh. This was your first time meeting one of those, then?“ Nia paused for a moment as she drew her legs closer and folded her hands on her knees. “Some of them are. And it's not just Drivers. There will always be people who treat Blades like property. Sometimes they don't even realise it.“

“What? But that's not right. Drivers and Blades are supposed to be partners.“

“Partners, right.“ Nia laughed. Had he said something wrong? “The world's not a fairytale. All that stuff about respecting Blades and living together with them? Not everyone follows that, and even those who say they do don't always stand by it.“

Rex didn't want to believe that, but he'd seen Dughall. He'd heard the townspeople. And come to think of it, hadn't he heard the same in Argentum too? He'd thought he'd just misunderstood. His Noponic was passable, but many of the finer nuances continued escaping him. Maybe what they'd said hadn't been some kind of idiom after all. 

“I'll be different.“

“Hm?“

“I won't be like that,“ Rex said. “I'll be the best partner I can be for Pyra no matter what. And for Gr—for him, too.“ He needed to stop calling him Gramps. That wasn't his name anymore. 

“So you decided, huh?“

“Yeah. It'd be wrong not to let him… live, just because I feel weird about it. Oh, but… I should ask Pyra about that. See if she's okay with me resonating with another crystal.“

Nia laughed again, this time definitely at him. “You're not _marrying_ your Blades, Rex. Although the way you look at Pyra makes me wonder if you wouldn't like that...“

Rex felt his face flush. “I don't know what you're talking about. Let's go find Pyra.“

 

~

 

They found her standing on the deck, gazing at the World Tree. They were close enough now that they had to crane their necks back to see all of it, and they still had a good way to go until they reached it. Rex had known how big it was, but seeing it for himself was something else. It truly reached up into the heavens. What a weird thought it was, people living on top of it. 

“Did you want something?“ 

Rex snapped out of his thoughts. “Oh, oh yeah. I want to awaken Gr—Azu—him, and I wanted to know if you're okay with it.“

“Oh, of course!“ Pyra smiled. “The more the merrier. That is, if you're okay with it…?“

“Yes.“ Okay, maybe that was a bit of a lie, but his discomfort didn't matter. He'd get over it somehow. “I'll just...“ He gripped the crystal tightly and waited for the light to appear. That was how it worked, right? The Gormotti man had done the same thing. 

The silence dragged on as Rex waited for something, anything to happen, until finally Nia sighed and snatched the core crystal from his hand. 

“You really don't want to do this, do you?“

“What do you mean? Of course I...“ 

Nia rolled her eyes. “No you don't. That's why it's not working. Core crystals don't respond if you don't want to resonate with them. Didn't you know that?“

“Hey, I've been a Driver for a few days and it's not like anyone taught me any of this stuff. Cut me some slack.“ Rex looked at the shimmering core crystal lying on Nia's open hand. That wasn't fair to Gram—the Blade. Just because he couldn't get over his feelings… 

“If you have your heart set on awakening him, I'll do it for you. How does that sound?“

Nia, becoming the Blade's Driver? Rex instinctively wanted to protest, but as he thought about it, he couldn't find a reason why it would be a problem. It wasn't like he had some kind of claim on the Blade because he'd known Gramps and she hadn't. 

“If you're okay with it then I am too.“

Nia nodded and gripped the crystal tighter. It erupted into light, engulfing her, the same way the crystal in Torigoth had. When it faded away, a Blade stood in front of her. A long green mane reached down his back, framed by two pink fin-like appendages attaching to his arms. In his hands he held a large hammer, flat on one side and studded with crystalline spikes on the other. A single horn stood out from his forehead, above those familiar yellow eyes framed by blue ether veins. 

He looked like Gramps. 

Rex swallowed.

The Blade opened his eyes and looked down at Nia. For a moment nobody said anything, then he smiled and nodded. “You're my Driver, then? Pleasure to meet you. My name is Azurda. What's yours?“

Rex opened his mouth and closed it again. He was called Azurda too. Nobody had told him he'd have the same name. 

“I'm Nia, and they are...“ Nia trailed off and looked at him. 

“Uh...“ Rex took a step forward, then stopped. What should he say? There were so many things he'd wished he'd told Gramps, so many questions he wanted to ask him, but this Blade, Azurda—he wasn't Gramps. Even if he looked like him. Even if he _sounded_ like him. He had the same gravelly deep voice… 

But he could introduce himself, at least. He cleared his throat and started, “I'm—my name is Rex. Um, I'm a salvager, from Fonsett, and...“ Architect, he was talking too much, wasn't he?

“There's no need to be this nervous, Rex.“

Rex looked up. Azurda held out a hand. 

“I'm not nervous. It's just that, well...“ 

“He knew you from before. We both did.“ Pyra walked towards Azurda. She averted her eyes for a moment, then slowly looked back up at him. “I'm the one responsible for your death, Azurda.“

It was like a punch to the face. Pyra? Responsible? How was any of it _her_ fault? Rex pushed past her. “That's not true. If anything it's my fault!“

“What? No, you didn't—“

“I was the one who accepted the job, so it's my—“

“Maybe you could explain what happened first before assigning blame.“

Both of them looked up. Azurda's lips were clamped together. Was he mad? Architect, he'd already messed up and made him mad—

Azurda burst out laughing and held up a hand to pause them. After he stopped he took a deep breath. “I'm sorry, but the two of you standing there arguing over who's responsible for my death when I don't even _remember_ … It looked too funny.“

“But… you died. Aren't you angry about that?“ Rex asked. 

“No. If I was meant to die then and there, then that too was fate. But tell me, what happened?“ 

“Well...“ 

 

~

 

“I see, so that's how it is… It's not the worst way to die. I made the decision to save you, and I did. You have no reason to blame yourselves. If my former self hadn't been willing to risk his life, he wouldn't have come after you.“ 

They'd settled down inside, away from the wind. Even sitting down Azurda towered over the rest of them. Hopefully Nia wouldn't have that growth spurt before Rex did. The idea of being the shortest aside from Tora and Poppi wasn't appealing. 

“But you warned me about the job and I didn't listen and—“

Azurda cut him off. “If my former self had survived, how do you think he would have reacted?“

“Well...“ Rex hadn't thought about that. How _would_ Gramps have reacted? He'd have given him the scolding of the century, but beyond that? Rex thought back to the many mistakes he'd made while working. There was that one time when a crate he'd brought up had contained a monster. He'd been able to deal with it, but not before it had rampaged across Gramps's back. Even though he had to have been in pain, Gramps had never blamed him—he'd only scolded him for not checking earlier. 

The monster hadn't been dangerous enough to put Gramps in actual danger, but even so, now that Rex was thinking about it, if he'd been in the situation he would have been angrier than Gramps had been. 

“I think… I think he would have been annoyed with me for making a stupid decision, and he would have said that he told me so, but I don't think he would have hated me for it.“ 

Azurda nodded. “Then on behalf of my former self: You made a stupid decision and you should have known better, and I told you so. Next time, think before blindly accepting such an obviously shady job. Take a page out of the book of the invisible man!“

So that hadn't changed either. He was still prone to making terrible jokes. 

Nia blinked and before Rex could stop her, she said, “What?“

“You haven't read it?“

“Uh… can't say I have.“ Nia gave him a dubious look. 

Azurda's grin broadened. Rex braced himself.

“Well, as a summary, he turned down the job because he couldn't see himself doing it.“

Nia groaned. “I'm already starting to regret resonating with you.“

_Oh no…_

“Hi, starting to regret resonating with you, I'm Azurda.“ 

The sound of the door being nudged interrupted their collective groan. Dromarch pushed it fully open and entered the room. “Everyone. We're approaching the World Tree now. Master Tora said it won't be much longer.“

“Already? Wow, this ship's fast.“ Rex stood up. The World Tree wasn't far away from Gormott at this time of year, but it would have taken so much longer on the small ships they could have hired, or even on Gramps. 

“Not surprising. Technology's the only thing Mor Ardain has going for it, what with the state their Titan is in,“ Nia said. “Let's go to the Bridge, shall we?“ 

 

~

 

The World Tree hadn't changed one bit. Her chest constricted at the sight. The last time she'd been so close, she had… 

Next to her, Rex muttered something about it being amazing. As always, she felt a sharp pang of guilt. He was so… pure. Unaware of what she'd done, of what she was. She shouldn't be using him like this. It wasn't fair to him. It wasn't fair to any of the others either. 

“If—if you don't want to come with me, I can understand. You can still turn around.“ Her hand wandered up to her core crystal as if it had a life of its own. 

Nia turned to her. “And go where, exactly? Have you forgotten we're all wanted criminals now? Besides, all this talk about Elysium's made me curious. If it exists I want to see it.“ 

“I will go where my Lady goes.“ Dromarch bowed his head towards her. 

“Poppi and Tora want to come with Rex-Rex and friends!“ Tora bounced at the console.

“I won't miss the chance to get to know you again,“ Azurda said. 

“I promised I'd take you to Elysium, didn't I?“ Rex put a hand on her shoulder. 

Pyra's throat tightened. She didn't deserve that, especially not from Azurda. No matter what Rex said, it was entirely her fault. If it hadn't been for her, neither of them would have been on that ship with Malos, and Azurda wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself. 

The thought of Malos made her want to curl up. She'd thought he was gone, after that last blow five hundred years ago. They'd never found his body, but it would have dissolved anyway and so they'd called it quits after a while, thinking that his core crystal must have shattered. And now he was back and she'd have to fight him again and—

She forced the thought down and made herself smile. “Thank you… everyone.“ 

“How are we going to get past that, though?“ Nia motioned towards the chasm separating them from the world tree. 

That wasn't a bad question. What was that doing there? It hadn't been like that five hundred years ago, and Pyra had no idea what could have caused it. Ophion had had the power to create something like this, but he'd been destroyed during the war, so what—

A familiar tingling sensation appeared at the edge of her mind. An artifice under her control approached from below the Cloud Sea's surface. Ophion? But who had restored him?

_Ophion?_

No response. She tried to reach out to him a second time, then a third, but it was as if something prevented her from getting through. Ophion, meanwhile, accelerated his ascent even further. 

The realisation that something had gone terribly wrong in those five hundred years dawned on her. 

“We can't stay here. We need to leave _now._ “

“Pyra, what—“

Ophion burst through the Cloud Sea's surface. He towered above the warship even with most of his body still submerged. His intent was clear: Destroy the intruders.

“Ophion, stop this! Why aren't you listening to me?“ Her heart was racing. Manmade ships were no match for an artifice. If Ophion attacked, they were doomed. She'd have led her friends to ruin. 

Rex rushed over to Tora and grabbed on to the steering wheel to help him, but at that moment the lights flickered and died. Tora hurried over to another control unit and tapped on it. Nothing happened. 

“Not good! Engine dead, Titan won't move!“

The current was already pulling them towards Ophion, who opened his maw and revealed a familiar purple glow growing brighter by the second.

The particle weapon. It would shear through the ship's hull like paper.

Pyra rushed forward, desperately trying to bridge the gap between her and Ophion, but whatever it was that was stopping her commands didn't budge. 

Maybe Mythra could—

Before she could finish the thought, the particle weapon fired. The energy beam cleaved through the ship and into the Titan, which let out an agonised wail as its side ripped open. The force of the impact flung it backwards, and with it the front part of the ship still attached to it. 

The floor tilted and Pyra lost her footing and slid down until she crashed into one of the walls. Nia landed next to her and groaned in pain. A quick look around revealed that none of the others had fared any better. Outside, the Titan continued flailing, shaking the remnants of the ship this way and that. 

“What are we gonna do? We can't—“ A chair, ripped free by the violent shaking, narrowly missed Rex's head. “We have to get it under control somehow!“

“Engine gone! Lifeboats too!“ Poppi grabbed on to a tumbling Tora, preventing him from smacking into another wall. 

A shudder went through the bridge and with a sickening crunch, the last support beams connecting the ship to the Titan snapped. The ship tumbled through the air like a toy while the Titan sank into the Cloud Sea with a last wail.

Pyra saw Ophion dive back down. They were out of his sensor range again, but that wouldn't save them from drowning. 

The ship splashed back into the Cloud Sea and clouds immediately started filling the bridge through a broken window. 

“What are we gonna do?“

The voices of the others frantically trying to find a solution washed over Pyra. She wanted to help, but all she could think of was that all of this was her fault. That Gormotti man had been right. She brought nothing but misfortune to those around her. 

“What's that?“ Nia pointed towards the window. Most of it was submerged, but through the part that wasn't they could see a hump emerging from the Cloud Sea and growing in size until it obscured the sky. 

“That's Uraya's Titan! It's going to—“

The ship tilted again. Azurda stumbled and cut off. With the windows now completely submerged, clouds started filling the interior even faster. They'd run out of air soon. Pyra closed her eyes and tried to find a way to apologise to them for everything, but before she found the right words, the clouds started draining out of the cabin again. 

“Poppi detect forward motion. Probability of Titan swallowing us up is high. Poppi suggest holding on to interior of ship.“ Poppi grabbed on to the doorframe and held Tora close to herself.

Pyra prayed they'd all survive long enough to hear her apology. 

 

~

 

“Unggh...“ 

Nia pushed herself to her feet. The ship had landed slanted, and she'd been thrown right to the bottom into a puddle of water. Not only was it wet and cold, it also clung to her because of all the cloud sludge mixed in with it. It felt gross, and she wouldn't be able to shake it off. 

On the upside, she was still alive and not on the bottom of the Cloud Sea. With that as the alternative, being gobbled up by a Titan didn't seem quite as bad anymore. And hey, she'd wanted to go to Uraya anyway. Being captive on an Ardainian warship and then stealing it hadn't been part of the plan, but she'd take what she could get. 

Next to her Dromarch's fur dripped sludge into the water, and she could hear Rex asking Pyra if she was alright, but even squinting to make the most of what little light came through the small gap in Uraya's mouth she couldn't see for more than an arm's length. Oh Father, it was dark in here.

Then a lone beam of light penetrated the darkness. It came from Rex, who apparently carried a torch with him. Right, he was a salvager, he was probably used to dealing with the dark.

The beam passed her face and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Agh! Watch where you point that.“

“Sorry!“

When she opened her eyes again, Rex and Pyra stood in front of her, with the latter offering a hand to pull her up to dry ground. Her other hand was clamped on her chest. With her help, Nia scrambled up the slope and joined them. Dromarch followed her. 

The bridge really hadn't fared well. Between being tossed around and swallowed by a Titan, most of the furniture wasn't where it should be anymore. It was a miracle none of them had been squashed by it. 

“That's some terrible luck, having the engines fail when they did. What the hell was that anyway?“ she asked. “Did you know that that thing would be there?“

Pyra fidgeted. “N-no, I… I'm sorry—“ 

“Still don't want to talk? Well, you did give me the option to back out. I didn't take it, so I can hardly blame you for anything, can I?“ Still, Nia couldn't help but wonder what exactly made Pyra this unwilling to talk. She herself was in the same position and she certainly wouldn't pry while keeping secrets herself, but what could possibly be so bad to make her act like that?

“Did you see Tora and Poppi and A—Azurda?“ Rex asked. 

It was plain as day he still struggled with Azurda being reawakened. How had he managed to fool himself into thinking he was willing to do it? Nia resisted the urge to shake her head. It was understandable that he'd hesitate. If her father had been a Blade, she didn't know if she'd have reawakened him either. 

“They don't seem to be in the bridge anymore,“ Dromarch said. “We should look for them outside.“

None of the windows had withstood the fall and it wasn't hard to climb out. Unfortunately, that meant jumping back into the water, hip deep and icy cold. At least it was less slimy outside of the ship. Stupid clouds. 

There was a light in the distance. Nia squinted, but she couldn't make out what was causing it. “Hey, Rex, can you turn that off for a moment?“ 

Rex gave her a puzzled look but obliged. In the darkness, Nia saw two glows, one red one blue, as well as two light beams coming from what she assumed was the shore. That had to be Poppi and Azurda. Or some kind of monster, but hopefully Poppi and Azurda. 

Rex seemed to have seen it too, as he turned the light on again and rushed towards the glows, as much as anyone could rush when wading through hip-deep water. 

As they climbed up on the shore and Nia wondered how she was going to get her clothes dry again, Tora bounced towards them. “All friends return safely!“

Azurda and Poppi followed him. Poppi's eyes were lit up, which explained the two light beams Nia had seen earlier. That was certainly a useful feature. 

“Oh! Hold on, I can help.“ Pyra held up the hand that wasn't still covering her chest and a ball of fire larger than her head appeared out of nowhere. It illuminated their surroundings far more than Poppi and Rex had. 

It was way rockier than Nia had expected. Sure, she'd noticed it didn't feel squishy, but this was the inside of a Titan. Shouldn't it be more… organic? The only living thing here seemed to be the grass they were standing on. It looked more like a cave than anything else, although it was more humid than any cave had a right to be. Then again, that was preferable to walking over pulsing flesh or something. 

Focusing her attention back to the others, she said, “You two are certainly earning your keep. Wish I could say the same for old Dromarch here...“

“My sincere apologies, my Lady.“ Dromarch bowed his head. It was an interaction they'd played out a hundred times. Nia couldn't even remember why they'd started joking about Dromarch being useless. It wasn't funny, really, but at some point it had become an inside joke between them. 

“Over there...“

Poppi looked past her, out into the darkness. Wait, it wasn't entirely dark. It seemed like a faint light came from that direction. Nia could just barely make out what looked like a tunnel entrance. 

“Poppi feel Blade, and...“ Poppi looked over to Nia, then back to where she was pointing, and cocked her head. 

Oh no. Had that Nopon given her the ability to sense Blades _and_ Flesh Eaters? How would he even do something like that? Flesh Eater ether signatures were hardly common knowledge. Damn, if she told the others—

But Poppi didn't say anything. Instead, she simply continued waving her arm. Nia had to get her not to tell anyone before it was too late, but she didn't see a way to talk to her in private right now. 

“As I recall, the Urayans live towards the Titan's back,“ Dromarch said. There was his usefulness. He knew stuff like that. “Whomever it is Poppi is sensing might be able to tell us how to get there.“

“Sounds like a plan. It's not like we can stay here anyway.“ Rex started walking towards the tunnel Poppi still pointed at. Didn't her arm get tired from that? 

They followed the tunnel, guided by Pyra, Poppi and Rex and their lights, taking care to dodge the green bubbling puddles. Azurda helpfully informed them that those were likely digestive enzymes, which was exactly what Nia hadn't wanted to hear. The thought of falling in one of those… Yuck!

“Hey, hold on. Isn't it getting brighter?“ She didn't have to squint nearly as hard to see into the distance anymore. 

“If memory serves, Uraya has a translucent hide. It seems like light filters through it.“ Azurda looked up, scanning the ceiling.

“How come…“ Rex fiddled with his belt. “How come you remember that but not…?“

“...but not you?“

Rex nodded.

“Nobody knows.“ Azurda placed a hand on Rex's shoulder. “We retain knowledge when we're reawakened, certainly our core personality, but our personal memories are lost forever. That's just how the world works.“

_That's just how the world works…_

It was something people said often, Nia had come to realise. 

“If we follow the light, maybe we'll find our way to Uraya's back!“ Pyra smiled. 

“Hold it.“

On top of a hill in front of them stood a mountain of a man who would have towered over them even on even footing. A Blade with large, lush wings accompanied him, and behind them, dwarfed by their size, two other men and a second Blade followed. This one had long white hair gently swaying in a breeze Nia hadn't noticed until now, framed by a golden ring floating behind her. 

The five of them jumped down and the tall one approached. He scanned Nia and the others until his eyes settled on Pyra.

“That emerald core crystal… So the rumours were true.“ The amusement in his voice was clear. 

“What rumours?“ Rex asked, but the way he shifted towards Pyra told Nia that he'd guessed it already. 

“The tale that every Driver worth his salt knows. The legendary Aegis. Folks been saying she just woke up from a 500 year nap.“ The man folded his arms in front of his chest and grinned. “Wouldn't have thought she'd show up with a pencil-necked shrimp like you for a Driver though. Come on boy, hand her over to the grown-ups.“ 

Rex took a step forward and shifted into battle stance. “This crap is getting old. Just leave her alone!“

“Yew! Zuo! You take care of the others. The kid's mine.“ The man drew his two scythes and his Blade linked up to him faster than anyone Nia had ever seen. One of his companions pulled out a gun; the other hefted a large battle axe. 

Nia looked at Azurda, who nodded in understanding and withdrew. This wasn't the time to start practicing fighting together. They hadn't even tried linking up yet. 

“Nia, Tora. I'll take the big guy. You handle the other two!“

“Wait, Rex—!“ Pyra held out a hand, but Rex was already charging off and she had no choice but to follow him. 

That hotheaded… But Nia had no time to think about him. The axe user swung at her. She leapt backwards and narrowly avoided the attack. He outranged her. Getting in on him with her rings wouldn't be easy. 

A gunshot cracked, but it ricocheted off Tora's shield and into the ground. “Nia focus on fighting Driver! Tora protect!“

Nia would have given him a thumbs up if she could, but she had her hands full as it was. Her opponent was more nimble than he had any right to be with such a cumbersome weapon. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw flashes of fire that had to come from Rex. 

She dove under another swing and moved in for the strike, but the Blade blocked her and with one fluid motion the man tossed his weapon over. The Blade flung herself towards Nia laughing, axe raised over her head. Dromarch's shield nearly broke under the force of the attack. 

Nia staggered back as the man took his weapon back and continued his onslaught. “You ain't half bad for such a squirt! Not a lot of people can hold out against me'n Zenobia this long.“

What an arrogant twerp, complimenting her when she hadn't even be able to land a hit. She was about to retort when a yell from across the battlefield interrupted her.

“We'll show you what me and Pyra are made of!“

“Wait, I can't supply power that fast!“

Nia, Dromarch and her opponents turned to look at them. Rex swung his sword wildly, generating burst after burst of flame. Even from a distance, the strained look on Pyra's face was obvious. That wasn't how you used Blades. Hadn't anyone explained that to him? 

Their opponent dodged each blow with ease until he was backed into a corner. With a triumphant shout Rex tried to let loose with one final attack, but instead of firing off a fire burst. his sword fizzled out mid-swing as Pyra dropped to her knees. 

“Playtime's over.“ 

The man rushed forward, faster than Nia would have thought possible for someone that big. He closed the space between him and Rex in a heartbeat and by the time Nia broke into a run it was too late, the scythes were already swinging, she wouldn't make it—

An inch away from his throat, the scythes stopped.

“If you're a Driver, you're a new one for sure. If you go in all bullheaded like that, even that Aegis of yours is gonna run out of energy before long.“

The man pulled his scythes back. His two companions followed suit; the gun went back in its holster and the battle axe returned to its wielder's back. 

Huh?!

What was that all about? First they picked a fight and then they just backed out and gave Rex a lecture on being a Driver? One that he sorely needed, apparently, but in this situation? 

From the look on his face, Rex was just as confused as she was. If he didn't close that mouth of his soon, he'd swallow a fly. Pyra, meanwhile, still sat on the ground, gasping for breath. 

The man thumped his chest. “The name's Vandham, and that's my Blade Roc. These guys are Yew“—the Driver Nia had fought waved—“and Zuo.“ The gunman nodded.

Vandham pointed over his shoulder. “I run a little firm out of a nearby village. How about I treat you to some grub, as thanks for letting me take a whack at the legendary Aegis? Come on!“

This was just getting weirder and weirder.

Yew caught the look on her face and laughed. “That's the boss for ya. Picks a fight with someone to see what they're made of and then treats 'em to a drink. He did the same with me. Been with him ever since.“

“So… scary big man not bad guy?“

“I guess not.“ Rex scratched his head. “We might as well follow him. It's not like we know where we're going anyway.“ He helped Pyra back to her feet and the two of them followed Vandham, alongside Tora and Poppi. 

Nia sighed and rubbed her forehead. They were too trusting for their own good, but they were right; none of them had a clue where to go, and these people obviously knew the way. Coming with them was just the smart choice, even if she didn't like it. 

Which one of them was the Flesh Eater Poppi had felt, she wondered as she walked next to Yew. None of them showed a core crystal or anything else that would give their Blade nature away, but then neither did she, and for a good reason. It would be interesting to talk to someone like her. Flesh Eaters weren't exactly allowed to run free and she'd never had the chance to meet another one. 

Maybe now was a good time to talk to Poppi if she could get her away from Tora for a moment, she thought as she walked past a boulder after Yew and Zenobia. 

“Watch out!“

Nia heard the whistle of a sword being swung and wheeled around to see Zenobia tackling Yew to the ground. The sword, held by a man clad in blue armor, pierced only his shoulder instead of his chest. 

“You're lucky you have a Blade, truly you are.“ 

Nia threw herself between the two and the attacker to deflect another strike. His swords locked with her rings and for a moment they stood face to face, neither of them moving. His lips curled into an arrogant smirk as he looked down on her through vibrant red glasses. Then Vandham's scythes whirled through the air and forced the man to dodge with a nimble leap backwards. 

The attacker flipped the sword in his right hand into a backhanded grip to adjust his glasses, then rested it on his shoulder. His Blade floated next to him, giggling to herself as she spread her wings. “Tee hee, you missed!“

“So I have, Obrona. Thanks for letting me know.“

Rex and Vandham could keep him at bay for the time being. Nia knelt down next to Yew, who was already being tended to by Zuo, and cast a healing art. She'd be more useful here for the time being. 

Yew clutched his shoulder and grimaced. “'s just a flesh wound. Don't make such a fuss.“

“Shut it and let me do my work.“ It was strange to heal someone she'd fought just a few minutes ago, but she couldn't exactly let him bleed to death. Of course, she could heal a wound like that in an instant, rather than relying on Dromarch's much slower pace…

She dismissed the idea and continued mending the wound. He wasn't in any immediate danger. There was no reason to blow her cover. Besides, it really wasn't that serious. She could afford to pay some attention to what the others were doing. 

“Who the hell are you?“ Vandham asked, scythes held out and eyes ablaze with fury. 

“My, aren't you angry? My name is Akhos. I came here for the same reason you did: I just had to see the leading lady with my own eyes.“ Akhos mockingly bowed in Pyra's direction. “As for your friend, I've planned to kill two tirkins with one stone; unfortunately it didn't quite work out as I wanted, but no matter. I'll just retrieve that core crystal later.“

A core crystal thief? Nia had heard of that happening (and had, apparently, been accused of _being_ one), but with how severely core theft was punished, she'd never have expected to run into one here, out of all places. But if he was after Pyra as well… 

“Can't you count? You're outnumbered. There's no way you can take all of us.“ Rex brandished his sword, which still looked far more pale than it should have. 

“Oh, I can count alright.“ Akhos pushed his glasses back. Nia already wanted to punch that arrogant smirk off his face. “One of your Drivers is out of commission, another one isn't a Driver in the first place, and as for you, boy… what do you think you're going to do with that Aegis after you've squandered her power so carelessly?“

He wasn't wrong. Pyra was still breathing harshly. She wouldn't be able to fight much like this. 

“Which makes three Drivers with Blades that can fight. Yes, I'm quite confident I can take you on.“ With a casual flick of his wrists, Akhos tossed his swords over to his Blade, who snatched them out of the air with a giggle. 

Roc erected a barrier in front of the group. “You tell him he's squandered his Blade's powers, then you try to do the same? You can't finish us all in one shot.“

“Oh, this won't be just _one shot...“_

__

__

Akhos opened his hand to reveal a core crystal flecked with red. It emanated a carmine glow, which strengthened as he raised his hand. When the light faded, he held a scythe almost larger than he was.

Nia's eyes widened. _He_ was the Flesh Eater Poppi had sensed. Why hadn't she told them he was there? 

Scythe clashed against scythe as Vandham charged him, then Akhos broke away to dodge Rex coming at him from the side. Obrona, meanwhile, had spiralled up into the air and done… something. The area was rapidly filling with red particles, but Nia had no idea what kind of attack it was. It didn't seem to…

Her healing art fizzled out as the ether flowing from Dromarch to her slowed to a dribble. The others didn't fare any better. Rex's sword flickered, then vanished completely and Vandham retreated with a curse. Tora stayed where he was, looking confused. Poppi pushed him to the side, out of the way of the lightning bolt coming from Obrona.

What kind of messed up power was this? Could those two actually interrupt the ether flow? This was bad. They couldn't do anything with their weapons not working. Vandham already sported a bleeding cut across his chest, Poppi's shoulder was dented and as Nia watched, Obrona's sword cut deep into Pyra's arm. Both she and Rex cried out.

“Hm? Why would the Driver… Oh, I see how it is. Whatever you did to share a core makes you take each other's damage.“ Akhos's smirk widened. “A little more damage and the Aegis should be easy to deal with.“ 

Obrona swooped down and occupied Vandham with a mad flurry of strikes as Akhos swung his scythe, batting the sword out of Rex's injured hand with ease. Rex himself staggered out of the way just in time to avoid losing his arm as well, leaving Pyra wide open. Akhos turned to her and raised his scythe with a gleeful smile… 

“Never fear! The Zekenator, Bringer of Chaos, is here!“

Akhos's scythe stopped dead and he, like everyone else, looked up to the hill Vandham had been on. A man wearing an eyepatch and about a dozen belts but no shirt stood on it, striking a pose that might have looked cool had someone else done it. Someone like his Blade, who was copying him. How many other weirdos were they going to have to deal with? 

Akhos's eye roll was visible even from where Nia crouched. “Oh, it's _you._ Well, all the better, I'll be taking your core as well, then.“ 

Pyra, now ignored, scrambled away towards Rex. 

“So you've heard of me, huh? Does the thought that the one and only Zeke von Genbu and his Purple Lightning Dream Smasher are here to deal with you strike fear into your heart?“ Zeke pulled an oversized sword out of its harness on his back in one fluid motion. 

“No.“

“Then run like a—uh…“ There was an awkward pause as the _Zekenator_ seemed to wrack his brains for a response to an answer he clearly hadn't expected. How uncool. “A-anyway! Your petty little trick can't hope to impede the Zekenator, not even if I were in its range, which I am not!“

“Yes, I'm quite aware. Fortunately, you're going to have to come closer to do anything to impede _me_.“ The smirk hadn't left Akhos's face, but it had hardened and didn't show any of the glee he'd displayed just a moment ago. 

A small amount of ether trickled back into Nia's weapon. She looked down and saw that they emitted a faint glow, far weaker than usual but also far more than just a moment ago. And weren't Obrona's wings drooping ever so slightly? She had to be growing tired from all those bursts. If that other weirdo distracted them a little longer… !

“You asked for it! Get ready for my super-ultra-mega-move!“ With a dramatic flourish, Zeke swept his sword upwards. It erupted into crackling lightning, and he leapt into the air, followed by his Blade. 

“Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash!“

Was that really what he'd named his attack? Incredible.

When they came down again, Zeke jammed his sword into the ground. Electricity spread outwards—Nia cursed when it jolted her—and a massive shining sign appeared on the ground. Even Akhos, for all his smugness earlier, took a step back.

Then it vanished. 

Nothing happened. 

The last of the lightning fizzled out and Zeke grinned at them, as if he'd performed a great feat. Nia had to admit he wasn't even entirely wrong. He was very good at distracting them at just the right time. Not much longer now until they could fight again. 

Akhos sighed. “This stage is quickly becoming too crowded with third rate actors. I'll be leaving this farce now. Obrona?“

“Sure, sure...“ 

“Hey, wait! I'm not finished yet—“

But before Zeke could stop them, they turned around and leapt away without a further word. There was nothing Nia and her companions could have done either. Not enough ether had returned to their weapons yet. The two must have noticed their technique was running out. Damn it. 

Nia looked after them. The first other Flesh Eater she'd ever met, and now he was already gone. She wasn't okay with him trying to take Pyra or stabbing Yew to steal a core crystal, but part of her wanted to run after him anyway. She didn't know whether she should hope they'd run into him again or not. 

"I have chased away the villain that terrorised you! My shining eye of justice prevails once more!“

Nia turned back to Zeke. This guy's contortionism could rival Dughall. Maybe they should consider opening a circus together. They'd make a great clown duo. 

“Uh… who exactly are you? Vandham, do you know this guy?“ Rex asked. 

“Never seen him in my life.“ 

It wasn't just that Zeke's shoulders slumped in disappointment. His entire _body_ slumped over, to the point where Nia had no idea how he was even staying upright. His Blade mimicked the movement. Had they rehearsed all of this? She was way too good at copying his antics. 

“You really are a bunch of rinky-dink, bogus, two-bit, no-mark Drivers, aren't you? Behold the mighty Zeke von Genbu! Bringer of Chaos! Mostly known as Zeke! And often addressed as The Zekenator!“ Spittle flew from his mouth. 

“Behold my Blade, Pandoria!“ Pandoria crossed her arms and nodded. 

“And behold my sword, the Purple Lightning Dream Smasher!“ Zeke waved the sword back and forth. Nia had to give it to him: He had to have some muscle to swing that oversized monstrosity around like that. 

“Right, uh, now that we've beheld all of you again, we'll just… be going now.“ Rex took a step to the side to walk around the weirdos. 

“Going? No! You can't just _go_!“ Zeke blocked his way. “I'm here to test the Aegis's might myself! Fight me, Aegis and Aegis's Driver, if you want to get past me!“

Oh that was _it_.

“Who do you think you are, you one-eyed monster?“

Rex inexplicably blushed. “Nia, you know what that—“

“First the big guy over there, then that Akhos guy and now you, can't you pick a fight with someone else for a change? I don't want to stand here and bash you weirdos up all day! In the past 48 hours I've been imprisoned in a cold uncomfortable cell on a ship, stole said ship to escape, had said ship destroyed by a sea monster, been eaten by a different sea monster, and now people like you are showing up in droves to ruin my day too! I've! Had! Enough!“

There was a moment of stunned silence, interrupted by a crunch as a boulder sitting above Zeke's and Pandoria's heads slowly tilted, then tipped over completely and plummeted down to where they were standing. Or had stood. If nothing else, they were good at running away. At the first sign of danger they'd taken off, and were now sprinting away from the boulder rolling after them. Nia could make out their faint voices in the distance. 

“Can't you do something, Pandy?“

“You know my element's lightning! I'm not cut out for this!“

And then they were gone, off into one of the many tunnels within Uraya. 

“Uh… all's well that ends well?“ Rex offered.

“Shut up and let's go, before someone else shows up to fight you.“


	5. Talks and Travels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live! 
> 
> Apologies for the long absence; many things happened, and when I looked up it was four months later. This chapter was planned to extend further into ingame chapter 3 in the outline, but when I realised how much I still had to write before even getting to Cole, I decided to cut it off here. It's more of a downtime chapter as result (though, after the battle royale in the last one, that's not such a bad thing) and I'm not fully satisfied with how it came out, but at some point you just need to cut your losses and move on. 
> 
> I'd like to say that the next chapter won't take as long, but... unfortunately, that's not a promise I can make. I'll try, though. For now, I hope you'll enjoy this one. 
> 
> As always, thanks to Lonetaku for beta reading.

At the very least, Nia thought, the people of Garfont knew how to serve up a feast. Maybe the food didn't make up for picking a stupid fight for no reason, but she was hardly going to say no to it either. 

On the short way to the village (at least they'd been polite enough to attack them not far from civilisation, that was something, she supposed), they'd brought Vandham, Roc and the others up to speed. They'd initially laughed at the idea of going to Elysium, but Pyra had been able to change their minds. The Aegis herself confirming all the bedtime stories they'd been told as children? That was convincing alright. 

It was a good thing she was with them, and that nobody had doubted their story for too long yet. 

By the time they'd reached Garfont, a certain amicable mood had spread between them, with Vandham joking about finding a gaggle of brats instead of useful materials. It was pretty difficult to have any hard feelings, Nia found, even though she'd planned to preserve hers. 

Now they sat around tables below tarps, shielding them from the slight drizzle. Roc had explained that moisture from further inside Uraya's body dribbled from the ceiling sometimes, and that's why it could rain inside its body. It was just a little bit gross. Maybe her plan to live in Uraya after escaping hadn't been such a good one after all. 

She turned her attention back to the people she shared a table with. Better not to dwell on Uraya's intricacies for too long if she wanted to keep enjoying the good food.

Yew chose this moment to shove a plate with noodles under her nose. He'd seemed to have made it his personal mission to recommend the highlights to her. He hadn't been wrong yet. 

Nia picked up that fork-spoon hybrid people apparently used in Uraya and picked up a few of the noodles. The sauce dripped off of them and she leaned forward to avoid getting any on her clothes. (Not that it would have mattered, though. They needed cleaning anyway.) 

She slurped the noodles of the spork. A flavour that was somehow both sweet and spicy hit her tongue. It was delicious. 

“Nia. What do you call a fake noodle?“

Nia looked up. Azurda leaned forward in his seat, watching her expectantly. Before she could ask him what he was talking about, Dromarch said: “I believe it may be… an impasta?“ 

“Why is it,“ Nia said, “that I wound up resonating with a Blade with the worst sense of humour in the history of Alrest, and my _other_ Blade joins you? I might have to disown you if you keep this up, Dromarch.“ 

“ _I_ thought it was great.“ Vandham put his mug of beer down and waved at the waiter to refill it. “Got any more of those? The children will love 'em.“ 

“I think I liked it better when you tried to kill us...“ 

Then Yew placed yet another dish in front of her and Nia dug in, trying not to listen to their terrible 'jokes'. 

The conversation had begun to pipe down when Zuo pulled her out of her thoughts. “You know, I wasn't expecting to run into a core crystal thief here, at the arse end of nowhere. Especially so soon after…“

Nia felt her ears twitch. Please don't get into him being a Flesh Eater, please don't… 

Vandham rubbed his chin. “I reckon he was after us. People don't come to Uraya's maw for no reason.“ 

“Think he was involved in that ambush?“

“Ambush?“ Rex asked. “What happened?“ 

“Couple weeks back, one of our teams was obliterated, Driver and all. Lost a lot of good people. The core crystal was nowhere to be found. Must've been a core thief. A monster wouldn't have taken it.“ Vandham's hand left the mug handle and clenched into a fist. 

“We think they may be trying to sell them.“ Roc arranged his wings and leaned forward. “If the other recent reports of core thefts are their doing as well, then they have far too many to resonate with them. What else they could be doing with them, we have no idea.“ 

“Unless Flesh Eaters can resonate with more crystals than us normal people.“ Zuo shrugged. “Who even knows with them? They have all sorts of weird abilities. Why not that too?“ 

Nia closed her eyes and masked it by rubbing her face. With any luck they'd think she was just tired, when really she didn't want to see their expressions. 

Composure. She couldn't slip up here. 

She took a deep breath disguised as a yawn and then opened her eyes again, only to catch Zuo looking at her. He nodded knowingly. “Kind of a shock to meet one of them out of the blue, eh?“ 

Nia forced herself to nod back. “Yeah… a shock.“ Maybe they'd assume that the quivering in her voice was just part of her reaction. 

“Hey, I've been meaning to ask…“ Rex looked from Pyra sitting next to him over to Vandham on the other side of the table. “What exactly _is_ a Flesh Eater, anyway? The preachers back in Fonsett sometimes mentioned them, but they never went into detail. They're Blades, I think, but not anymore…?“ 

Azurda nodded. “That's the gist, yes. Born as Blades, they consume human flesh and… change, as a result. Not only do they awaken strange abilities, they also live outside of the natural cycle that all Blades undergo. They're not bonded with a Driver, and they don't return to their cores even when their former Driver dies.“

The natural cycle, huh… The hint of disapproval in his voice was obvious. He wouldn't be happy to learn that his own Driver had broken out of that cycle herself, and sooner or later he'd find out. Hiding it permanently wasn't an option. Why had she agreed to awakening him? Because she'd felt sorry for Rex, that was why. Stupid. 

Rex nodded slowly. “Okay, so… why would they do that?“ 

“I really wouldn't know,“ Azurda said. “Some of them, I think, were forced into it and I can hardly blame them, but the rest? I couldn't begin to guess. You may be able to ask the local preachers about it. I hear there are many of them in Uraya.“ 

Maybe she could excuse herself, go to the bathroom or something. Or she could ask about Zeke, surely they wanted to discuss him as well, so—

“Hey, everyone… I think I'm going to bed.“ Pyra pushed her chair back with a strained smile. “Thank you so much for the feast!“

“Pyra, are you…?“ Rex looked at her.

“I'm fine, just a bit tired. It's been a long day.“

“See you later, Pyra.“ Nia watched her walk towards the yurt they'd share for sleeping. It hadn't been her intention, but if her interjection got the others to change the subject, Nia would have to find a way to make it up to her later. 

After a moment of silence, Rex sighed. “I guess that's my fault, huh? If I hadn't been so reckless...“ 

“A Driver's got to be aware of their Blade's limits, to prevent this from happening,“ Vandham said. “If you go charging in like that, you'll just get both of you hurt.“

“I know that, but after seeing Dughall treat his Blade like crap, I wanted to take the burden off her. It seems like no matter what I do it's wrong. If I do too little, Pyra has to come and save me again, and if I do too much, I put her in danger.“ Rex rubbed his neck. “I still have a lot to learn, don't I?“ 

Next to Rex, Yew snorted. “You're what, fifteen? Of course you do. D'you think Zenobia'n I didn't run into problems like that? Everyone does. It ain't easy becoming a Driver.“

“Exactly.“ Vandham motioned towards Roc. “Ask him about all the times I messed up when we were freshly bonded sometime. But if you're concerned about using too much of her power, why don't you find another Blade to resonate with? Split the load and all.“ 

“I was going to, but it didn't work out.“ Rex looked over at Azurda for a moment. “I was going to be the one to awaken Gra—Azurda, but I couldn't.“ 

“What do you mean, you _couldn't_?“ Zuo asked. “If you can awaken one Blade you can awaken all of them. That's how it works.“ 

“Well, I...“ 

Azurda leaned forward. “It wasn't that he couldn't; it's a little more complicated than that, but let's not dwell on that now. Instead, perhaps we could discuss our next steps? We still need to figure out where to go from here.“ 

Zuo opened his mouth and then closed it again after a pointed look from Vandham. 

“I don't know a thing about that beast that attacked you, but I know a guy who might be able to help. Cole, lives over in Fonsa Myma. He's got lots of old books. Maybe he can tell you more.“ 

“Where's Fonsa Myma?“ Rex asked.

Nia could see his interest from the way he suddenly leaned forward. What a far cry from his previous downtrodden posture. Nothing ever kept him down for long, did it? 

“'s the capital, on the other end of the stomach area. I can take you there. Gotta run some errands anyway.“ Vandham rose. “We're leaving early, so you better catch some sleep while you can!“

 

~

 

All in all, Garfont wasn't such a bad place, Nia thought. From her vantage point up on the tree overlooking the entire place, she could see people milling about between the yurts, as Zuo had told her they were called. Many of them were children from all over Alrest. War orphans, Vandham had said, taken in after their parents had died. Good eggs, the lot of them.

Somehow that just made it harder. Dughall, at least, was easy to hate. 

Dromarch, perched on a branch next to her, nudged her side. When she looked up, he nodded towards the edge of the hill where, with a burst of fire, Poppi boosted herself up and walked towards them. 

That was convenient. There hadn't been a chance to talk to her alone yet. She wouldn't have to find an excuse to get her away from Tora now. 

It also meant she wouldn't be able to delay this conversation any longer. With a sigh, she jjumped off the tree down to where Poppi waited for her. 

“Nia is Flesh Eater too.“ 

It wasn't a question, but Nia nodded anyway. “Yeah. No use hiding it, I guess. Why didn't you tell anyone, though?“

“At first, Poppi was not sure why Nia had strange ether signature. Only figured out after fighting other Flesh Eater. Then, Poppi heard what others say and thought better not to.“ Poppi looked at her, face open, without the curled lips or pinched eyebrows so many people had when they spoke of Flesh Eaters. 

“Poppi not truly understand what is problem. Nia not seem like bad person. Why others call her unnatural?“

“That's just how the world works,“ Nia said. How ironic, to quote Azurda on this out of all people. She settled against the tree and patted the ground next to her. A moment later Poppi sat down as well, a pensive look on her face. 

From what Tora and Rex had told her, Poppi was little more than a week old, even if she didn't look or act the part. So young, so inexperienced, and already confronted with the way the world bore down on those it didn't approve of. What a depressing conversation. 

“Poppi is reminded of Gormotti man.“

Nia snapped out of her thoughts. “What man?“

“Man we met before save Nia. Said mean things about Blades. Called them freaks. Murderers.“ Poppi looked at a piece of blue grass she was fiddling with. “Masterpon always say Poppi is great Blade, and having Blade is good. Why people disagree?“ 

“People don't always need reasons to hate others. It's like… like they want someone to point at and call them evil. Someone to blame for things going wrong, even if it's unfair. And sometimes Blades—or Flesh Eaters—do bad things, like Akhos, and then that's attributed to all of us.“ Nia took a deep breath. “Some of them don't want to see us as real people because it's convenient to them, I guess. Father knows that's how Dughall acted...“ 

“Does Dughall know Nia is Flesh Eater?“ 

“Yeah.“ Nia leaned back and looked at the ceiling. “Mòrag, too. It's why they held me captive. Preached that I'm evil to the crowds, then use me for my powers behind everyone's back.“ Healing injured soldiers, day after day. Most of the wounds came from fights with the many monsters prowling Mor Ardain's Titan, but they'd always talked about how useful she would be if war with Uraya ever came to pass… Hypocrites. 

It almost made her want to throw her lot in with the Urayans, if she didn't know they'd treat her just as bad or even worse. Mor Ardain wasn't nearly as religious as Uraya, from what she'd heard, and yet they held the same opinions on her kind. No, the Urayans wouldn't look kindly at her if they ever learned what she really was. 

Next to her, Poppi shook her head. “Poppi won't tell anyone. Nia is good person. Poppi don't want Nia to get hurt again.“ 

“Thanks, Poppi.“ 

They sat in silence, watching the people below them. A few people had gathered in front of what Nia believed was the local bakery, who seemed to have finished up a new batch of those pancakes Urayans seemed to like a great deal, enough to walk through the water still dribbling on them from above. 

“Say, why didn't you notice Akhos was there?“ 

“Oh,“ Poppi said. “Is hard to tell signatures apart when close to each other. Poppi thought it was Nia. Poppi will be more careful in the future.“

“Pretty useful ability, anyway. How does it work? Do you know?“ 

Poppi shrugged. “Poppi not know. Is like sensing current in air, but not really. Is hard to explain. And Poppi can't tell Blades apart, so is less useful than Nia thinks.“ 

“Yeah, but still.“ How had Tora managed to do something like that? Normal Blades could sense ether currents in their vicinity, but not to a degree where they could pinpoint other Blades. Maybe there were Flesh Eaters whose abilities exceeded that, but to build a Blade with capabilities of that of regular Blades?

Tora was pretty amazing, now that Nia really thought about it. 

“Anyway.“ Nia yawned. “It's getting late, I should go to sleep. Good night, Poppi.“

“Night night, Nia.“

 

~

 

“You got everything you need? Replaced what you lost on the ship?“ Vandham asked as he fiddled with the padlock holding the gate shut. Apparently they had monster problems, if they had to lock the village down like this.

“Yep, all done.“ Rex held up a bag. “Thanks for giving us a discount.“ 

“Ha! Least I can do after giving you such a hard time. You're going to need it too. It's a long way to Fonsa Myma.“ Vandham threw the gate open and passed it.

Nia looked back at the village. Things were busier now than they had been the evening before. The market was bustling with people. There was even a lone salvager selling their wares. Surprising. Nia hadn't even known you _could_ salvage in Uraya. 

“Y'know, you can stick around if you want. Or come back later.“ Zuo stood at the gate, ready to close it behind them. “We could always use another Driver, and you're a good kid.“

She'd be lying if she said she hadn't considered it. She'd wanted to go to Uraya all along, and the people here in Garfont had accepted her and Dromarch (and Azurda, she reminded herself, it wasn't just the two of them anymore) with open arms. They could help treat the injured mercenaries, maybe find a dayjob at one of the shops…

… and always be on guard to make sure nobody ever found out she was a Flesh Eater, of course. The moment they did, they'd sing a very different tune. A small, close-knit town simply wasn't safe. 

She shook her head. “That's a nice offer, but I gotta go with Rex and Pyra. I owe them.“ 

“Shame, but ah well. The offer stands. Come back anytime.“ Zuo held out a hand, holding a small pouch. “Yew told me to give this to you. Payment for saving him yesterday, after he whaled on you like that. Also, Zenobia said she wants to fight you again sometime.“ 

“Of course she does,“ Nia muttered. She took the pouch and opened it. In it lay a tiny booklet. She flipped to a random page and found a recipe for what seemed to be the noodles she'd eaten the day before. So they were called farnith noodles…

“You seemed to enjoy the dishes, so he dug up the recipes for you. And if you were wondering why he didn't come by to give it to you himself—“ Zuo chortled. “He's shy.“ 

“I believe you may have just been flirted with by proxy, my lady.“ Dromarch pawed his nose and ignored the glare she gave him. 

Zuo laughed. “You're a bit too young for him.“ 

Nia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Not looking her age was a pain. She _wasn't_ fifteen anymore, damn it. 

“Yeah… just tell him thanks, I appreciate it.“ And she did, even if it had gotten her into this entirely too awkward situation. She'd ask Pyra to cook some of these recipes later. “Maybe we'll see each other again sometime.“ 

Zuo nodded and waved as she turned around and followed the others, who had already passed the gate. It creaked shut behind her and Dromarch. 

“Everyone here?“ Vandham asked. “Good. This way.“ 

Together, they passed narrow bridges across chasms and more of those acid pools. It was a convoluted path, winding back and forth as they slowly climbed higher and higher. Apparently Garfont had low elevation.

“Say, Vandham, how long does it take to walk to Fonsa Myma?“ Rex asked.

“A lot! We'll have to camp out. It's all the way on the other side of Uraya's stomach, and that's a big area.“

Nia's ears twitched. Did that mean more acid pools? Eugh. 

“We can't take the straight path either. Used to be you could, people say, but these days you gotta take a detour.“ Vandham held out a hand and helped Tora clamber up a pile of rocks blocking their way. “I really need to send out a team to clear these up… It'll be easier once we're out of the tunnels. More monsters too though.“ 

“Why the detour?“ Pyra asked. “Isn't there a staircase up to Fonsa Myma?“

“Used to be, like I said. It's busted now, can't take it anymore. The only way to the city is over the cliffs lining the stomach walls. Takes quite a bit longer. No idea why they never fixed it.“

“Have you been here, Pyra?“ Nia asked. This was the perfect opportunity to ask about her past without prying too much.

“Yes, back when… 500 years ago.“ Pyra's hand rose up to her chest and then immediately fell again. Why did she keep doing that? 

“I wasn't—I never spent much time here, though. I don't remember much.“

Pyra wasn't meeting anyone's eyes again. Was she lying? She _was_ awfully guarded about her past, and Nia knew enough about concealing things that she could recognise the signs. 

Still, she probably had a good reason, and it wasn't like Nia was in any position to judge. She wasn't goint to pry.

Neither were any of the others, apparently; they continued on in silence, only interrupted by the occasional curse when tripping over scattered rocks. 

It was around noon when they rounded another corner and Nia stopped dead in her tracks. The tunnel mouth widened into a humongous cave filled to the brim with trees of all shades between red and violet and blue. Uraya, which had seemed so dark and dank, almost seemed to glow in the light filtering through its hide from above. The water far beneath the cliff they stood on reflected the colours. 

“Quite the sight, isn't it?“ Vandham stopped next to her. “Just wait until nightfall. It'll be even more impressive.“

“Can't imagine how,“ Nia muttered. Next to her, Rex stared at the trees just as intently as she did. 

“I was wondering why people praised Uraya's beauty so much. I always thought it couldn't be that great, being in a cave and all, but this...“ How did one describe something like this? She couldn't find the right words. Vandham seemed to understand, though; he simply nodded and moved on to talk to the others.

For a while, they stood and watched. The trees' colours shifted even in those few moments, creating the illusion of rippled running through them. It was a sight she could look at all day without growing tired of it. Eventually, however, Vandham clapped his hands and said: “Alright, we need to get going or we won't make it to the campsite until nightfall. You'll get to see more of this than you ever wanted on the way, so let's not dawdle too much.“ 

Nia tore her eyes away from the spectacle. He was right; they'd see more of it not just on the way but also from Fonsa Myma. She could see its lights in the distance. It looked like it would offer a fantastic view of the land. 

She'd miss the open skies of Gormott if she lived here, but this wouldn't be such a bad place to live. Father knew it was better than Mor Ardain, that rotten wasteland where you choked on dust and sand day in day out. Fonsa Myma should be big enough for her to hide her true nature, too… 

Would Pyra, Rex and the others mind if she told them she didn't want to come with them any longer? 

Vandham led them through a narrow path between two cliffs, past grazing herds of Armus and Flamiis hunting fish in shallow pools of water, until they arrived at the bottom of Uraya's stomach.

Which was covered in knee-deep water. 

“Don't tell me we have to _wade_ though this?“

“No way around it, I'm afraid,“ Vandham said. “That's the price of living in Uraya. You get used to it.“ 

“Come on, Nia, it's just a bit of water.“ Rex had already waded out into the shallows. 

“You'd say that,“ Nia muttered. He wore a diving suit. Of course he wouldn't mind. 

Fortunately, there was an easy way around it. Dromarch, bless his core, had already lowered himself to the ground, and Nia swung herself up on his back easily. When he stepped out into the water, only the barest tips of her shoes dipped into it. Perfect. No wet feet after all. 

“Hmm… it's warm.“ Dromarch looked down at the water and sniffed at it. “Is Uraya's body heat causing this?“ 

Vandham shrugged. “Probably. You can ask Cole when we get there, he'll know. Now come on, it's this way.“ 

Nia couldn't see much rhyme or reason in the way Vandham led them. As far as she could tell, there was no visible path anywhere, but he seemed to know exactly where he was going as he walked past this island, clambered up on that one and gave deeper pools of water a wide berth. The dark shapes moving in them were enough reason to explain why. 

“See that slope there, in the distance?“ Vandham pointed towards the wall to their left. “This is where we go back up on the cliffs. Mind your steps when we get closer. Lots of hostile critters around.“ 

Nia squinted as she looked into the distance. There was definitely movement on that slope, between the brightly coloured corals and vegetation. It was hardly unexpected that they wouldn't get through without some battles, but still, she could do without having to fight on precarious ground. 

“Do you have a place in mind where we could camp?“ Azurda asked. “It'll get dark soon.“ 

He was right. It was hard to notice, with the light filtering through Uraya's body, but it certainly darker than it had been on the cliff. And the leaves… were they glowing? It seemed like they had become more luminous, but maybe she was imagining things.

“There's a dam up there that's pretty safe. Oh, by the way...“ Vandham stopped and turned around to them. “You said you two haven't tried fighting together, right? Why not give it a try now? We'll get into fights with the Ignas around the place anyway.“ 

“That seems like a great idea.“ Azurda held out a hand and summoned his hammer, then handed it to her. “It'll be handy for you to have backup.“

“Yeah… you're right.“ Which made this all the more frustrating. The idea of linking with a Blade who would loathe her if he ever learned the truth was… offputting. Not to mention that he might be able to figure it out just from the way the ether he sent her way behaved. Dromarch always said he couldn't tell the difference, but that didn't mean _nobody_ could. 

There was no way out of it, though. If she refused she'd just look suspicious. What kind of Driver bonded with a Blade and then refused to link up with them? She accepted the hammer. With any luck none of the others had noticed her hesitation. 

“Here, let's try it out.“ Azurda held out a hand. A ripple travelled through the ether and washed over her, the sign of a Blade ready to link that a normal Driver shouldn't be able to feel. 

Nia gripped the hammer more tightly and focused on the ether stream Azurda generated. The flow was different from Dromarch's; not surprising, since Azurda was an earth Blade. The gentle ebb and flow she had grown accustomed with was replaced by what almost felt like a solid beam of energy, neither waxing nor waning. 

Father, please make it so he won't find out.

She took a deep breath and accepted the ether, allowed it to flow into his weapon—or hers now, rather—and a bright blue link flickered into existence, only to vanish a split second later.

Azurda frowned. “What happened?“

Nia tried again, with the same result. Strange. Much as she didn't want to, she had tried to establish the connection in earnest, and she wasn't a newbie Driver who hadn't learned to maintain it anymore. Why didn't it work?

Before she could try a third time, Dromarch stepped forward. “Please forgive my Lady. For reasons we've never quite been able to figure out, she has a hard time learning to link with new Blades. I recall we've had the same issues, back in the day.“

Good old Dromarch. 

“Nia maybe process ether differently from other Drivers. Poppi has database entry on theories about that. Would make linking harder until adjust.“ 

She really had to find a way to make things up for Poppi. First keeping her secret, now covering for her? The world didn't deserve someone like Poppi. 

“Can't say I ever heard of that happening, but I guess it takes all kinds of people, eh? And no Driver's going to establish a perfect link right off the bat, so don't sweat it.“ Vandham motioned towards Roc, who hovered in the air next to him. “Me and Roc needed a bunch of tries to get a battle-ready link too. Maybe postpone the testing though. Wouldn't want you to flunk out in the middle of a fight.“

“Like a certain someone here did, you mean?“ Roc asked.

“Oh, shush.“ 

Azurda's lips quirked upwards. “You have a point. I'm sure we can figure it out in safety later.“ 

“Yeah.“ Hopefully not. 

_Why_ hadn't she been able to maintain the link, though? Her having the same problem with Dromarch had been a lie, and she was almost certain Poppi hadn't been truthful about her database entry either. Was it because she hadn't really wanted to?

Maybe Rex wasn't the only one whose emotions interfered with Driver things. 

“Well, come on then, we've got some climbing to do!“

The slope Vandham led them on was manageable, although after Pyra nearly slid off the age after slipping on the wet grass, they all paid extra attention to where they tread. Nia didn't at all feel like complaining that Dromarch was doing the walking for her. Tora in particular seemed to have trouble until Poppi picked him up and carried him. 

The further they ascended, the more Igna traces appeared, from claw wedges on the ground to haphazardly constructed totems strewn across the path, but they mostly steered clear of the group. The tiny handful that did attack was quickly dispatched. Four Drivers working together was certainly no joke, Nia thought. She wouldn't have wanted to be in those Ignas's shoes. 

Eventually, Vandham pointed ahead and interrupted Tora's complaints about being tired. “Look, there's the dam. We're safe on the other side. The Ignas don't cross it, ever.“

“Good! Meh meh. Tora need rest.“

“Masterpon need to stop being lazy.“

Nia eyed the construction in front of her. Calling it a bridge would be an overstatement. A narrow path extended on top of the dam wall, and to the right was nothing but thin air. A large hole gaped in the middle, with water flowing down from it. “Hasn't anyone thought of building an actual bridge here?“

“No money for it.“ Vandham shrugged and stepped onto the path. “And the big shots in Fonsa Myma don't come here, so they're not paying for it either. Now come on. It's not as bad as it looks.“ 

“If you say so.“ Nia dismounted—better not push her luck—and cautiously followed him. Everything in Uraya seemed to be wet and this path was no exception. The stones were slick with moisture. Her left foot slipped and she caught herself just before falling into the artificial lake. 

“Are you sure you don't even have money for a safety railing?“

“It'll be easier if you take smaller steps,“ Rex called from behind. “And don't roll your feet.“

Nia frowned and did as he said as Azurda started a discussion on salvaging techniques behind her. He was right. This _was_ much more doable. 

In the end, none of them fell, and soon they gathered around a crackling fire set up in the wind shadow of the dam. Having a fire Blade with them was so very useful, especially since she could cook too. The now emptied pot of soup still smelled delicious. 

“Hey, Vandham, what's this Cole like?“ Rex asked. 

“He used to be my partner, back in the day. We've been on our fair share of battlefields together. These days he's running a theatre in Fonsa Myma. Writes plays too, then badgers me into seeing them, that old bastard.“ Vandham grinned. “He knows a lot of stuff, and if he can't help you he might be able to point you towards someone who can.“

Nia leaned further back against Dromarch, softly stroking his fur. This wasn't so bad. Nightfall had made the trees erupt into luminous light, shrouding the entire area in a soft violent haze, interspersed with the occasional brilliant red leaf fluttering down to them. It was cozy around the fire, and listening to the others bantering was nice. 

She'd hated sleeping outside once, back when she'd still lived with her family. These days, she found herself appreciating it. A warm bed was great, but there was something about sleeping outdoors with her friends—her lips quirked upwards at the thought—that was so enjoyable. 

With a yawn, she closed her eyes. Vandham had already threatened them with an early departure. Better to catch as much sleep as she could.


	6. Allies and Adversaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well! At least this time it's just two months rather than four. 
> 
> I forgot to put this in the notes last chapter, but if you'd like to contribute terrible jokes for Azurda to make throughout the story, feel free to leave them in the comments. 
> 
> Other than that I can't think of anything to say, so I'll just shut up and let you read the chapter.
> 
> Thanks to Jerevinan for helping me with editing.

Up close, Fonsa Myma's spires and the palace suspended in mid-air were a sight to behold. Nia was no stranger to things hanging over chasms—vast parts of Torigoth were built like that, after all—but this city had such a different atmosphere from anything she'd ever seen. It was graceful in a way neither Torigoth nor Alba Cavanich were, although Torigoth felt more welcoming. (Alba Cavanich had no redeeming features.)

Rice field lined the path leading up to the city, and a smell that was equal parts earthy and watery mixed with an oddly fruity scent coming from the colourful trees permeated the air. People tended to the rice plants. A herd of tame Armus grazed on a pasture. It would have been an idyllic sight, if it hadn't been for the massive Titan warship moored to a dock besides the fields. 

“So it's not just Mor Ardain that's gearing up for war, huh.“ Nia eyed the warship. Unlike the hulking armored beasts Mor Ardain favoured, this one hadn't been made to undergo extensive modifications. A enormous canon extended from under its belly, but it wasn't integrated into the Titan itself. Instead, a belt-like structure looping around its back strapped the cannon to it. 

“Yeah. It's been getting worse lately.“ A hint of worry laced Vandham's voice. “Nothing we can do about that, though.“ 

A gaggle of soldiers lined the bridge leading into Fonsa Myma proper, over the lake the city was built into. None of them made any effort to stop or even question them. Why were they so lax even while preparing for war? 

One of them, standing near the end of the bridge, inadvertently answered her question. “Vandham! 'S been a while. What brings you here today? And who are your friends, new recruits?“

Vandham laughed. “Nah. These are some folks that got swept up in Uraya. I'm not that desperate for recruits. I'm here to run some errands, and they asked me to introduce them to ol' Cole.“

“Meet you at the pub later? I'm off duty this evening. Gotta get the booze while it's still affordable and all.“ The soldier held out a hand. 

Vandham grabbed and shook it. “Gotcha. See you then.“ 

The bridge opened up into a marketplace populated with a small handful of stalls. Probably a bunch of people looking to cash in on visitors before they reached the real market. This was too small an area to supply the entire city, especially since none of these stalls were particularly well-stocked. That fishmonger in particular had a downright pitiful selection. Even so, a surprisingly large crowd milled about the stalls, and Nia noticed more than one argument, one of them nearly causing a physical fight, over the goods.

A curious round shape sitting in front of one of the other stalls caught her eye. Upon further inspection, she realised it was a Blade—the glowing core crystal on their chest was barely visible from where she stood. A Blade, shopping at the market? It wasn't a sight she was used to seeing. 

She looked behind herself. The others stood where they were, chatting among each other. The only one paying attention to her was Dromarch. With a nod to him, she wandered up to the market, pretending to inspect the fishmonger's stock to overhear the Blade's conversation. 

“—is for your Driver, right?“ The vendor asked. The chatter surrounding them made it hard to tell, but Nia thought she sounded suspicious. She risked a glance, and sure enough, the vendor's eyes were narrow and her eyebrows furrowed. Certainly not the face of a happy woman. 

The people glaring at the Blade didn't look particularly happy, either. 

“Oh, yes, of course! She's busy today, so she asked me to go instead.“ 

“Hmm...“ The woman squinted at the Blade for a moment longer, then packaged up some bread. “Here you go. Now go straight back home and give it to her.“ 

“Got it, ma'am!“ The Blade bounced away, carrying the bundle. 

“Not much food to go around these days,“ Vandham said. Nia started. Apparently he'd walked up behind her while she'd watched. “Nobody wants to give any to someone who doesn't need it.“ 

Nia didn't answer. It made sense, sort of. Blades didn't have to eat, and it was sensible to keep food for those who needed it. It wouldn't do any good to argue about it anyway, not then and there. 

“Anyway! The playhouse is up there.“ Vandham pointed towards a flight of stairs to their right that led to another flight of stairs that led to yet another one that led to… 

“Meh meh, all the way up?“ 

“Nah, just about halfway. Now come on, these stairs won't climb themselves.“ 

This, at least, was reminiscent of home. Certain parts of Torigoth were nothing _but_ stairs. Anyone living there got used to them sooner or later, unless they only wanted to stay in the mostly-industrial landbound quarters. 

Or if they were Tora, apparently. Short legs or no, the other Gormotti Nopon Nia knew hadn't made such a big deal out of stairs. 

Even with him slowing the group down, however, they eventually arrived at the terrace holding the playhouse. The view from up here wasn't exactly spectacular. Other buildings blocked the greater stomach area from sight, and the only thing left visible was the ceiling with its strange bubbly translucent spots. The playhouse itself was certainly nice, though, built high up and with the entrance lit by gently glowing orbs. 

A child ran out to greet them. “Mister Vandham!“ 

Vandham grabbed her and swung her around before putting her back onto the ground. “Iona! It's been a while. How's Grandpa Cole doing?“ 

“Well...“ Iona looked down, shoulders falling. “He's not… doing too well.“

"Ah." Neither of them elaborated any further, and Nia wasn't about to ask. 

"Did you want to see him?" Iona asked. When Vandham nodded, she continued: "You can't talk to him while the play is going on. But you can sit in if you want! I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I let you in." 

Vandham barked a laugh. "And if he does he'll just badger me for payment afterwards, the stingy old fart."

Iona led them inside and quietly opened the door facing the entrance. A man's voice, full of pathos, reached Nia's ears from inside the auditorium. 

“—saw at the time that the powers of darkness had engulfed almost everything! People and Titans alike were drawn into the abyssal vortex!“

Nia slipped into her seat at the back of the room and folded her legs under herself. The stage seemed to show a ship sailing through clouds, depicted as rowing banners of translucent cloth, with multicoloured glass spikes jutting into the air. It was rather beautiful. 

The narrator continued speaking as a heavily armored actor—playing Addam Origo, apparently— walked up on the ship's deck and spoke a prayer to the Architect. Out of the corner of her eye, Nia noticed Pyra shifting in her seat. 

A shadowy figure emerged from the clouds. It moved in a strange, inhuman way as it crept towards Addam. He raised his sword and stood to face it when a winged woman descended from the skies, her face obscured by a golden mask. 

“Lo! Loyal servant of the Architect!“ Addam raised a hand in greeting. “Oh Aegis! Bless me with your powers! Bring light upon the world!“

The angelic woman didn't reply. Instead, her hand moved in a fluid arc and light seemed to pour out of her. The shadow below her writhed as if it was aflame and after a moment sank back under the clouds again. 

The narrator spoke up again, but Nia paid no attention to him as she watched the Aegis fall from the sky and collapse on the ground. Addam slowly approached her lifeless body and knelt down next to her.

“Servant of the Architect… By thy power, the world is saved! For the gift you have granted us, we are eternally grateful.“ He raised an arm skywards as his voice grew louder. “I shall spread thy legend far and wide! May your name live on for eternity!“

As the curtain closed, he wrapped his arms around her and reverently carried her away. The curtain closed behind them, and the sound of clapping filled the room. 

Dromarch pawed his nose next to her. “That was a rather wonderful play, wasn't it?“ 

“It sure was impressive,“ Nia said. Something about the actors… they'd drawn her right into the play. By the end she'd almost forgotten it wasn't real. Everyone knew the story of the Aegis, but she'd never seen it enacted like this. 

“Those clouds were so pretty! I wonder how they did that?“ Pyra's voice was cheerful, but Nia remembered how she'd been shifting in her seat, and as she squinted at her to make out her features in the dim light, she could see the line between her eyebrows. It had to be awkward to watch a play on yourself. Father, it had to be awkward to be a mythological figure people wrote plays about! No wonder she hadn't enjoyed it. 

Iona tapped her on the shoulder. “You can come see Grandpa now. It's this way.“ 

She led them through a side door and deeper inside the building, past a cordon that marked the end of the public areas. The hubbub coming from the other guests grew more muted and eventually stopped completely. When she stopped in front of another door, Vandham strode forward and pushed it open without bothering to knock. “Comin' in, old fella!“

The room behind the door was stuffed _full_ of books, scrolls, crates probably containing more books and scrolls, old-looking vases and other artifacts… It didn't look like they'd all fit in there. Dromarch seemed to think the same, as he settled down just outside the room instead of coming in with them.

In front of a desk pushed to the wall opposite the door stood a man wearing a hooded cloak, facing away from them. It was impossible to see what he looked like, at least until he turned around. His face was overshadowed by his hood; all Nia could make out was a beard over a wrinkled face.

“Still collecting the old junk, are ya?“ Vandham gestured (very carefully to avoid knocking anything over) towards the piles of stuff stacked everywhere. 

“Don't make fun of a man's hobbies.“ The answer sounded acidic, but there was an edge of amusement to it. The exchange seemed well practised, as if they'd gone through it before. 

Vandham laughed. “Some greeting for an old comrade that is!“ 

Right, they'd been partners before, Vandham had said. How did one go from being a mercenary to working at a theater? Such a big change. 

“Hey, Cole, you're old, aint'cha?“

“Thank you so much for reminding me.“ 

“You're welcome. You know lots of things from those books of yours, right? Maybe even how to get to the World Tree? To Elysium?“ Vandham asked. 

“Elysium? Why would you want to go there?“ Even without seeing his face, the surprise in Cole's voice was evident. 

“Not me exactly.“ Vandham stepped aside to reveal Pyra, previously hidden from Cole's sight by his massive frame. Rex had to flatten himself against the wall to allow it. 

For a moment nobody said anything, then Cole's mouth fell open. “That core crystal… so the Aegis is back among us. Who is your—ah...“ His eyes had fallen on the green cross glittering on Rex's chest. “But you're so young...“

“How about it, old man?“ Vandham interjected. “Do you know the way or not?“ 

Cole folded his hands behind himself. “I dare say you've already tried going yourself if you came all this way to ask me.“ 

“We have,“ Pyra said, voice hitching. “But on the way, we… Ophion...“ 

“Ah. Yes, that would be a problem.“

“Do you know why he's there? He shouldn't have been. He sank during the war. I don't know what happened.“

Cole inclined his head. “One day, not too long after… what happened, Ophion resurfaced and started guarding the World Tree. Nobody knows how or why he came back.“ 

“Do you know a way past it, though?“ Rex asked. “No matter what, I— _we_ need to go to Elysium.“ 

Cole leaned back, sitting down at the edge of his desk, which pushed a handful of books out of the way. “Elysium, huh. Yes, I know of a way, maybe… but I want to talk to her first. To the Aegis. In private.“ 

“To Pyra?“ Rex asked. “Why—no, nevermind, you're doing us a favour, I guess I shouldn't ask."

“No, worries, kid.“ Vandham clapped him on the shoulder. “Cole's a good guy. He's not going to try to capture her.“ 

Cole barked a laugh. “Like I even could. She'd have me for breakfast.“ 

Nia squeezed herself out of the room. If he wanted them to leave anyway, there was no reason to stay in such cramped quarters any longer. Dromarch blinked at her, then rose and followed her out of the theater. 

Good old Dromarch. Always could tell what she wanted.

 

~

 

“I hope I didn't bring back any bad memories with my play.“

Pyra squirmed. Truthfully, he had, but he hadn't meant to hurt her. She couldn't tell him. It wouldn't be fair. “No, it's—it's fine. Some of them are good memories.“ 

“You're a terrible liar. That much hasn't changed at all.“ Minoth chuckled, then pushed back his hood. 

Pyra did a double take. He looked so _old_. It wasn't wholly unexpected; she knew what he was, but still... 

“I'm sorry,“ Minoth said. “All I wanted was for people to know about that time. What it was like. What _we_ were like. I didn't want them to forget, or to never know in the first place…“ 

_I would like to forget._

She didn't say it, even as memories of destruction and carnage flashed through her mind, or people screaming and running for their lives even as darkness consumed them wholly. Mythra wouldn't have said it either, might have even denied it. But it was the truth, and even more, it was why she existed in the first place. 

“Will you be using it again? Your power?“

Pyra looked up to see Minoth studying her face. It was hard to read him, aged as he was and after all this time, but there was an undeniable spark of worry in his eyes. 

“I don't—no, I won't. I can't.“ Pyra bit her lip. _Father, don't let me get into a situation where I don't have a choice…_

Minoth nodded. “I had to ask. You know that.“ 

“Yes, of course.“ 

The crinkles on Minoth's face deepened when he smiled. “You really haven't changed one bit. Always the understanding type, so different from... Now then. You want to talk to Amalthus about how he got to Elysium back then, don't you? Old bastard never did explain it properly.“

“Yes.“ What a harsh way to talk about one's Driver. She could hardly blame him, however, not after everything that had happened. “I don't know the political situation, and how to best approach Indol and him. It's… difficult to get information when you're missing out on five hundred years.“ 

In truth, she hadn't wanted to ask. Better to be unaware of what was going on than to have the others ask her about herself. 

“Oh, of course. I'll bring you up to speed. In fact, hold on, I'll give you something that'll help you.“ Minoth turned around and started rifling through the pile on his desk. “I don't have much need for it anymore these days, so I might as well—“

His hand clamped around the desk's edge and he doubled over and coughed violently. Pyra rushed up to him. “Minoth! Minoth are you alright?“ 

He nodded, eyes squeezed together and clutching his chest. “I'm—“ Another coughing fit interrupted him. 

“Minoth—“

The door opened and Minoth's adopted child barged in. “Grandpa!“

“I'm _ﬁne_ , is what I would say if you'd let me. Don't worry.“

Pyra looked down, at the ground. To think that the degradation had progressed so much already. She'd known he would age and eventually die, but to see it in front of her, the reality of it… 

“Doesn't sound fine to me, old man.“ Vandham leaned against the door frame, hair brushing against its top. “We'd best call it a day here. Whatever it is you were talking about can wait.“ 

“Then at least come back tomorrow, will you? I've got something to give you.“ Minoth allowed Iona to guide him to the chair and sat down. Pyra reluctantly inched out of the room. The sound of his coughing accompanied them as they left. 

“The others left to do their own thing,“ Rex explained after the door had closed behind them. “Tora wanted to do some repairwork on Poppi, and Nia said she needed some downtime away from us.“ 

“Right, I see...“

“Hey, Pyra,“ Vandham said. “What'd you call Cole back there?“ 

Pyra made what she hoped was a surprised face. “Hm? I called him Cole. What did you think?“

He had a reason for assuming another name. After everything she'd seen and heard, she could imagine what it was, and she wasn't going to go against his wishes. 

“Really? Sounded like something else. I guess I must have misheard.“ Vandham looked at her a moment longer, then shrugged. “I'll show you to the inn.“ 

“Actually...“ Pyra hesitated. “There's somewhere I'd like to go first.“ 

She remembered the place, even if it hadn't been her standing there after Addam had picked up the core crystal. She'd looked at the Cloud Sea stretching to the very horizon and pledged to aid Addam in defeating Malos… 

“I want to go to the Olethro Ruins.“

“Olethro?“ Vandham scratched his head. “Why do you want to go there? The place's nothing more than a ruin.“

“W-well, I…“ How would she ever explain it to them? She hardly knew herself why she wanted to go. Was it that she wanted to see the place where everything had begun so long ago? Nostalgia? Wanting to relive her memories of Addam? She couldn't tell. All she knew was that she wanted—no, needed to go. 

“I'd like to go too,“ Rex interjected. “It's not every day I get to visit the capital of Uraya, right? I want to see everything I can.“

Rex…

Whenever she felt uncomfortable, he noticed and bailed her out, even when he didn't know the reasons. Over and over again he'd helped her out like that. He was too good for her. 

“Alright then, if you both want to go. Come along. I'll find someone to open the gate for us.“ 

Rex grinned at her behind Vandham's back as they followed him. 

 

~

 

“Hey, Roc?“ Rex asked.

Roc turned around to him. Were his eyebrows raised? Rex thought so, but it was seriously difficult to tell, with him having a bird face and all. 

“How many people does Vandham know, exactly?“

It was a valid question, he thought, after all the people Vandham had talked to about allowing them access to the Olethro ruins, including but not limited to several guards doing drills outside of the guardhouse near the gate, their superior, _their_ superior and then finally someone who apparently had the standing to open the gate for them. 

“Oh, a couple,“ Roc said. “Many of them are old comrades. Others know he's reliable. He does a lot of odd jobs for the Fonsa Myman guard forces, when they're stretched thin or the Garfont mercenaries are better positioned to deal with a problem.“ 

“He must have been doing this work for a long time then,“ Pyra said, still fidgeting. She hadn't stopped doing that since they'd entered that theatre. Was it still the play that was getting to her? And why did she want to go to the ruins? 

He'd resolved not to ask and he wasn't about to go back on it, but man, sometimes she really didn't make it easy. 

“For a very long time,“ Roc replied. “I've been with him for most of it. He awakened me when he was much younger. Thirty years ago, maybe? You lose track of it.“ 

“Thirty years? Wow. You must be like family.“ Thoughts of himself and Pyra rose in Rex' head. Growing together, or, well, him growing and her staying the same, learning more about each other, maybe—no, no, those were pipe dreams, he'd promised to take her to Elysium and that was it. What would happen after, he didn't know. 

Vandham motioned for them to follow him and led them to the gate. The guards gave Vandham dubious looks when he presented them with the permission slip, but nonetheless started the mechanism to open the massive door wings. “Be sure to come back if Uraya makes any motion to dive. We _are_ going to lock you out if you're still outside at that point.“ 

“Got it. Shouldn't take that long, right? Pyra?“

“Hm? Oh, yes. We'll be back long before that happens.“ Pyra stepped towards the gate. “Shall we go?“

And up the stairs they went.

And up. 

And further up.

Wow, he hadn't realised how far up Uraya's surface was. 

Eventually they reached the top and took a moment to breathe. The last rays of the sinking sun filtered into the corridor and on the horizon, Rex could make out part of the World Tree's stem. Uraya's massive tail dipped in and out of view as the Titan traversed the Cloud Sea. It had to make lots of noise, but they were too far above to hear anything. 

As they stepped out into the open, he realised why they called this a ruin. The stairs had been in good condition, but out here, the amphitheatre's seats were all but crumbling. It wasn't that surprising, with Uraya dipping in and out of the Cloud Sea. Prolonged exposure to the clouds _would_ wittle down stone. Why had they even built this out here? Hopefully it was at least stable. 

Pyra walked past him without a word and stood in the centre of the theatre, head raised towards the darkening sky. Rex took a step forward to join her, but Vandham put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Kid, you gotta be careful.“ 

“Huh?“ Rex look up at him. 

“You haven't been in Uraya that long, and you've already had those two weirdos come after her.“ Vandham spoke quietly, his brows furrowed. 

“Three weirdos, you mean.“

“Shut it, bird. What I'm saying is, as long as you're with her, you'll never be able to catch a break for long. You need to think about whether you can really do this. Whether you're willing to stand against the entire world for her. How much you're willing to give up for her.“ 

The entire world? 

Rex had stood up to a lot of people for her already. Malos and Sever. That rude man in Torigoth, then Dughall and Mòrag. Vandham, initially, and also Akhos and that Zeke guy. He hadn't enjoyed any of it, and he'd already lost Gramps... 

He hadn't spared many thoughts to the future. They were going to Elysium, and that was it. Now, spurred by Vandham's words, he realised that there was no guarantee they'd all make it. Maybe Nia would die, or Tora, or Poppi could be irreparably damaged, or—

Somehow, despite Gramps dying, it hadn't occurred to him. 

And yet…

“I can't let her down,“ he said. “I promised. I'm going to see this through, no matter what. No matter who stands in our way.“ 

“Is that so, kid?“

The harsh mocking voice came from behind them. Rex whirled around. A bright blue sword descended on him, and then Roc threw up his shield and Vandham grabbed him and pulled him away from the exit to the stairs. 

Malos leisurely strolled out into the amphitheatre. 

As the sword lit up in his hands, Rex, positioned himself between him and Pyra. 

“Who's this?“ Vandham asked, eyes trained on Malos. Behind him, Roc hovered on the spot, ready to spring into action. 

“Malos.“ The link between Rex and Pyra surged as he said it, a temporary increase in energy before it went back to normal, but he didn't dare look behind himself to check on her. Not with Malos coming their way. 

“How'd you find us?“ he asked, more to buy time than because he wanted an answer. 

“Are you seriously asking me that, kid?“ Malos cocked his head and snorted. “You've been parading all over Uraya, with her core crystal in plain sight. It's laughably easy to find you if you know how to listen to the rumour mill.“ 

“Doesn't matter much now, does it? You found us, and I'm willing to bet you're not leaving without a fight.“ Vandham said. 

“After coming all this way? Of course not. Let's get started, shall we?“ Malos brandished his sword and charged them. 

Rex brought his sword up and they clashed. Malos pushed down and Rex' knees nearly buckled from the force when Vandham struck at him with his scythes from the side. Sever blocked the attack, but it gave Rex the space needed to back away from Malos. 

“Why won't you leave Pyra alone?“ he yelled as he swung only to leap backwards to avoid another of Malos' strikes. 

“Because I want her power. Isn't that obvious? And speaking of which...“ Malos blocked Vandham's swipe from the side. “How long _are_ you going to stay in that form?“

Form? What was he talking about? 

“That's—“ Pyra leapt in front of Rex and gritted her teeth as she threw up her shield, “—none of your concern. I am who I am!“ 

Malos had the gall to look amused. “Oh yeah?“

"Yeah!" Rex threw himself at Malos with renewed vigour. By now, he knew better than to lock blades with him and focused on quick swipes whenever he saw an opening. Coupled with Vandham's strikes, it was enough to drive him back towards the entrance step by step. 

“You've improved since we last met, kid,“ Malos said as he blocked Vandham coming in from the side. His arm didn't waver at all. “You weren't able to do this back then. However...“ 

Without warning, Sever threw himself at Vandham. At the same time, Malos disengaged and with one swift movement, he brought his sword down on Rex'. Then a heavy boot made contact with Rex' midsection and he found himself flying through the air. He hit the ground and gasped for breath. How had Malos been able to move that fast? 

Pyra rushed to his side and he accepted her hand to pull himself up. Rex wiped his forehead and kept his eyes trained at Malos. 

Malos, however, didn't follow them at all.

"So, kid..." he said with a chuckle, "You think you have what it takes to master her true power? That you can handle it?" He held out an arm, mockingly motioning towards them. "Look at you, can't even scratch me when someone else is helping you."

"You-!"

"Don't let him provoke you, Rex." Vandham eyed Malos. "Don't forget, he hasn't been able to get _us_ either yet."

"How about we change that?"

All around Malos a pitch black aura flared up, engulfing both him and Sever. Rex staggered back. It felt as if a storm was whipping his face, even though the air was perfectly still. 

"What the—" Vandham swallowed the rest of his words when Malos charged out of the vortex towards him. Roc threw up his shield, but the impact was heavy enough that they both flew backwards and crashed into the amphitheatre seats behind them. 

Before Rex could take even a step to help him, Sever seemed to materialise out of nowhere and swiped at him. Damn it, he couldn't waste time here, but Sever was too agile, dodging every attack with ease while simultaneously blocking every attempt to move away. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, Rex saw Malos walk towards where Vandham struggled to get to his feet. With a curse, he redoubled his efforts and managed to drive Sever back a few steps, but it wasn't enough. What could he—

A bolt of fire caught Sever straight in the chest and threw him backwards. "Rex, go!" Pyra yelled. "I'll hold him off!"

For a brief moment, Rex hesitated. Could he really leave Pyra alone? But if he didn't, Vandham would... He bit his lip and nodded before charging off towards Malos, who now faced off against Roc. Roc's shield held fast, but behind it, he wavered. Rex willed his legs to move faster. He had to get there in time for—

Roc's shield broke. Malos buried his sword in Roc's core crystal. 

Rex froze as Roc dissolved into sparkling blue ether. The darkened cracked core crystal clattered to the ground. 

No.

_No._

Not again!

Rex was dimly aware that he was screaming as he charged at Malos, that Vandham yelled at him to back off and that Pyra was still behind him, fighting Sever. None of it mattered. He had to stop Malos before he killed anyone else. He wouldn't let anyone else die. Never again. 

A hand wreathed in shadows grabbed his right wrist, lightning fast and impossibly strong.

"You can't beat me like that." Malos smirked down on him, then tossed him over on his back. Like he weighed nothing. Like he was just some insect to step on. As he struggled to his feet, Malos lifted his sword. "So long, kid." 

Rex brought up his sword, knowing it was too late, too late and too little, and just as the sword slashed down on him Pyra's shriek reached his ears and then—

There was light. 

Light all around them, engulfing them just as the darkness had Malos earlier. Rex turned around to its source as Malos staggered away from him and briefly saw Pyra floating in mid air before her body disappeared in a flurry of bright golden ether that near instantly reformed into...

Another blade. Long locks of golden hair fell down her back, over armor that looked superficially similar to Pyra's, but in white rather than red. She gently floated back to the ground and opened her eyes, which shared her hair's golden hue.

Rex's sword deactivated, its edge retreating back inside only for it to change shape just as Pyra... or this other woman had, and then reactivated.

What was going on? Who was that Blade?

"You awoke at last... Mythra!"

Rex whirled around just as Malos leapt towards him— no, not him, the other Blade, who cast her shield and held him off effortlessly. 

"Mythra? Pyra, what..."

"I am not Pyra."

Her voice... it was like Pyra's, and yet not. Hers was harsher, somehow, more resolute, but... 

"Pyra is a different self that I constructed. Now are you going to stand there and gape, or are you going to fight?"

Rex shook his head to clear his thought and raised his new (but still so familiar) sword. Malos jumped away and brought some distance between them before he could attack, then looked up and scanned the sky for... what, exactly? 

Rex's question was answered when a glaringly bright pillar of light surged down and struck the platform with terrifying force. A deafening crack rang out and for a moment, Rex couldn't see anything. After his vision cleared, half the platform was missing, and Malos stood far to the side, evidently having managed to slip away in time. 

"The true power of the Aegis... How long I've waited to see it again." 

The distance between Malos and them made it difficult to make out, but his tone sounded almost nostalgic, wistful even, Rex thought. 

What kind of relationship did they have, exactly? Who _was_ Malos? 

"So you still have what it takes to fulfill your purpose. And all it took was to try and kill that brat." Malos made no move to attack. 

“You haven't changed one bit, I see,“ Pyr—Mythra spat. “You're exactly as you were back then.“

“Maybe so, partner. Maybe so.“ Malos' sword folded up and he placed it on his back again. When he stepped back, Sever followed him. 

"Are you running away?" Mythra asked sharply. 

"I want _nothing_ more than to fight you again, but I'm not enough of an idiot to think I can beat you like this, on my own." Malos retreated further and raised a darkly glowing fist. "Let's postpone this to a more suitable moment. See you later, partner!" 

Another beam shot down as Malos punched the ground, and when the smoke and light had vanished, neither he nor Sever were anywhere to be found. 

Rex didn't believe for a second that they were defeated. They'd be back for sure. 

There was a thud behind him. He turned around. Pyra lay on the ground, unconscious and deathly pale.

"Pyra!"

**Author's Note:**

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